Halo: Helljumper's Prime
by dajsk
Summary: After a successful landing, ODST squad Epsilon makes their way through the city of Coronoca, however, a bloody fate has captured their friend, Kai. Go through the perspective of Kai Parker, Nathan Wright, Alice Castle, Daniel Harper, and Megan Ellis as they try to find their best friend.
1. Prologue

Meh, nothing here is really worthy of my standards. Like, I'm an ODST but...does that mean that I want to kill? No, but it means that I want to defend the city at all costs, even to the cost of my own life. But would it all be worth it? Everything that I've built up for this moment, I don't want to sacrifice it all. I'm here because of my training, my skills, and my wits. I don't want to lose it, but I don't want to lose the city, either. These two things combat each other like a brother and sister would combat over who would get the last of something, like a pizza, or a cup of ice cream. I've also made some pretty close relationships with some of the ODSTs in my squad, I don't want to lose them, and they don't want to lose me. Dropping into hell with them is like busting through the school doors with your friends, and I don't want that to end. We've had our fair share of quarrels and hardships, but in the end...it's almost already fine with them.

Well, it's almost time to drop, I should start wrapping this up. Anyways, the moral of this is that no matter who you're with, whether it be you're with a tough customer and you're bound to end up in situations you may not be prepared for, or that you're side by side with your buddy, sneaking silently, you'll just have to trust the people by your side, and you'll be fine.

LOCATION: ODST DROP STATION

TIME: 1800 HOURS

DATE: JULY 9TH, 2552

There were five in the squad. Daniel Harper, Alice Castle, Nathaniel Wright, Kai Parker, and Megan Ellis, the leader being Nathaniel Wright, or Nate for short.

"God, I can't stand the Covenant and their slipspace ruptures, it's almost...almost as if..." Kai paused, searching for the right words.

"Trouble thinking of comparisons, Kai?" Alice jaunted at Kai. Nathaniel sat at the table, pondering their drop locations, until an idea sparked in him.

"Got it," he muttered. He started pinpointing areas and positions the team could coordinate to get to, it would be a rough ride, but maybe lady luck would be on their side today.

"Alright team, form up. We got some talking to do," the team did a slight run to the table and Nathan stood there, bent and both hands on the edges of the tables.

He then continued, "I want Kai and Alice to meet up after the drop, try to control your drop pod enough to land here," he pointed at the outskirts of the city, surrounded by buildings that would hopefully give enough cover to get them less exposed to the squad of Grunts and the Brutes seen near the towering buildings, "once you land there, meet up and try to regroup with us, only use your COM when the area is calm and less packed, and use the VISR to meet up. Megan and Daniel you two drop together here," he pointed at the large monument in the middle of the city, large and enough to cover them, "there you will have two heavy weapons, an M41 SPNKr Rocket Launcher and an SRS99-AM sniper rifle, I'll drop at the edge of town, near you four where we can regroup. Sound like a plan?" Nathaniel asked, the entire group responded with nods.

Nathaniel took some SPNKrs and snipers and put them in both Megan and Daniel's pods, he gave Kai and Alice M7S Caseless SMGs and M6C/SOCOMs, or silenced magnums, and the standard loadout for him as well. All four got into the pod, and Nathaniel walked around the pods, knocking on them for the OK signal, all four knocked back. He got into his own pod and shut it, two quick, high pitched beeps went off, signaling the pod was shut, and Nathaniel pulled the hatch for his pod, the drop occurred, and they were falling from heaven to hell.


	2. Chapter 1: Hours After The Drop

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 9TH, 2552

Alice woke up with a start, heavy breathing, confusion, and, oddly, a headache. She hit the back of her head real good after the drop, it might've been the unnatural angle she landed in. She looked around, looking for the explosive bolts that she needed to arm in order to blow the pod door open. She found one bolt.

Three more, come on Alice.

And another one.

Two more, please! Faster, come on!

Then the other one.

One more! W-Where is it?

She looked around, and couldn't find it, she looked closer and saw that one bolt was torn out of the wall, and five holes were present. She gulped.

I've...I've been spotted, hopefully not to well, though.

She started continuously kicking the door.

Break! Come on, you got to break!

The door flung off and skid down the street, she jumped out of the pod, took off her helmet, and coughed harshly, and then wheezed, a nice breath of air. The atmosphere was dark and a slight gust of wind, with some sprinkling of rain, sounds of distant gunfire and explosions, and the claps and roars of thunder and lightning. She looked to the right, and saw Kai's pod. She ran to it, the pod had two dead Brutes near the front and the pod looked as if it was forcefully torn open, and small pools of blood in it, and Kai's right arm. She stared with horror.

My God...Kai...what happened?

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA

TIME: 2 HOURS BEFORE ALICE'S WAKING

DATE: JULY 9TH, 2552

Kai woke up, hearing Brutes chatter outside his pod.

No, no, no! They're here!

He could only make out a few sentences, one of them mentioned five meteors, those were most definitely the five drop pods. But one of them mentioned something peculiar, it said "A demon in the grave."

That was probably him in the pod, they found him. One of the Brutes grabbed a hold of the door, and pulled. The door steamed and ripped off, the Brute threw down into the cluttered street of cars, Kai pulled his combat knife out and stabbed it in the Brute's left temple, it screamed in agonizing pain as purple and red blood dripped from the stab. Kai then jupmed out of the pod. One Brute jumped at him, he maneuvered to the right and grabbed it's arm and slammed it down, he stepped on its hand and gave the Brute a magazine of his M7S to the head, it fell limp, dead.

The Brute, who was stabbed, gave him a few good blows to the upper chest, Kai then kicked the knee of the Brute, took the knife that was lodged in its head and stabbed it in the chin and pulled it down, the Brute died.

Then, the leader shot at him with a Spiker, he pulled up the Brute's dead body and the spikes hit his dead ally. He then rolled to the right, and picked up his M7S and shot at the remaining Brutes, the Brute leader's shields flared and he took his hammer off of his back and swung wildly at Kai, he successfully hit him. Kai flew back into the pod, and fell limp on the seat, he coughed up blood and his head fell back. The Brute turned the hammer to the other side, the blade.

He then layed it on Kai's right arm, lodged it deeper in the arm, and cut down. The blade was tearing Kai's right arm completely off. The only thing Kai could do was scream in pain, then when his arm was off, the Brute pinned the head of the hammer on Kai's upper chest, disabling his movement. He snarled at the other Brute and spoke, "Rip off the door of that cocoon of a grave, take them out, and kill them in front of this heathen. To pay for what he did to our brothers."

The other Brute walked to the pod and began to lodge his claws in it. Kai coughed and shouted, "No! Don't!" it hurt to shout, but Kai had to.

The Brute who had the hammer growled and said, "Why not? After what you did..." He pushed the hammer on his chest, slowly.

Kai groaned, "Take me, imprison me, do whatever. Just don't...don't kill her!"

The Brute pulled the hammer back, glanced at the other Brute for a few seconds and then back to Kai, "Fine." He jerked his head to the right, signaling the last Brute to move out. He grabbed Kai by his head and yanked him on his knees to the Covenant dropship, forcefully and painfully. Blood streamed slowly out of Kai's right socket, and the Brute leader snorted, "Get something to cover up his bleeding, we need this one alive." The Brute nodded and tore off a piece of cloth from Kai's ODST armor, and wrapped it around the missing arm.

The Brute stared at Kai and laughed, "Don't expect to live long." He then moved up with his last Brute.

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA

TIME: 2100

DATE: JULY 10TH, 2552

"Daniel?" a voice said.

He woke up, on the street, and looked behind him to only see his pod, then looked back to where he awoke to see Megan kneeling next to him.

"Megan? Is that you?" Daniel asked, groggily. Megan nodded.

Daniel felt some pain on his left leg, he felt something hot run down the leg. He then saw that it was blood. "Did I miss the fight?" Daniel asked, laughing. Megan, pulling the spikes out of Daniel, nodded. "Yeah, there was a squadron of Brutes and Grunts I had to fight off, luckily it wasn't to hard."

She strained and yanked out a spike as Daniel winced. Suddenly, there was a screech on their COMs, it was Nathaniel. " _To any of my teammates out there, I'm jammed. My pod won't open. I need assistance, anyone anywhere, please help. There are a couple of Brutes and Jackals outside of my location. Sending coordinates to my location now._ "

Megan put her two fingers on her COMM and responded, "This is Megan from Eagle Squadron, Nathaniel. It's good to hear your voice again." Nathaniel didn't speak for a moment.

Then he finally keyed in, " _Megan, it's good to hear you, too. Is Daniel with you?_ "

Before Megan could respond a third person joined the conversation. It was Alice. " _Nathaniel! Nathaniel! Is that you? Kai's gone! I found his drop pod, it has blood and looks to have been forced open! And I...I found his right arm. It looks to have been cut by something. We have to find him!_ "

Nathaniel went silent, " _Kai's gone?..._ " he stopped talking after that.


	3. Chapter 2: The Capturing

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 9TH, 2552

Nathaniel came screeching in a blaze of fire from the sky, his pod landed and it looked clear. "No Covenant? Well, that's either good or bad..." he said to himself.

He pressed down on all the explosive bolts, but they all flared red and denied opening. "What the...?"

Nathaniel did it again, but they all went red again. He was jammed. He started kicking the door but it was no use. He was locked inside a pod, with no defense other than the standard loadout of all ODSTs, but then, he heard footsteps. At first, he though it was help, but it turned out to be much worse. Four Brutes, alongside with seven Jackals defending them. He looked around, trying to find some way to bust the door open. Nothing. He then turned on his COM, "To any of my teammates out there..."

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA

TIME: 2300

DATE: JULY 10TH, 2552

Daniel limped while Megan ran towards Nathaniel's pod, they finally found it, steaming and surrounded. Megan slid behind the corner and scanned the area, four Brutes and seven Jackals. She pulled out a flash grenade and threw it towards the Brutes, it detonated and blinded the Brutes. Megan sprinted out from behind the corner, guns blazing. Two Brutes fell, and all seven Jackals fell. Daniel pulled out his knife and snuck around the Brutes, who were currently firing at Megan. Daniel stabbed one in the right side of its chest, and then in the neck, he could hear the neck snap. The Brute fell, dead. The other Brute, enraged by his partner's death, started firing at Daniel, this gave time for Megan to run up and jump on the Brute and snap it's neck, it took a whole lot of effort, but it was dead.

Megan glanced at the pod and walked to it, she looked around to see if there was a way he could get out. She then kicked the pod, it shook a bit. She heard a muffled voice saying, "Hey, hey, hey, no kicking!" She smiled. She took the door handles, as did Daniel.

She pulled, and heard wires snap and metal groaning. Then the door collapsed and there sat Nathaniel. Nathaniel ducked as he exited the pod and looked at his two friends. "I would like to thank you both, but right now we need to find Kai..." he looked around, admiring the fresh atmosphere. Sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the emptiness of the streets of New Coronoca, it was eerie.

Daniel chimed in on the COM, "Alice, we are with Nathaniel, where are you?" Nothing. All that responded was static, this was not like Alice. Something bad happened to her.

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENFORCED GLORY_

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 10TH, 2552

Kai woke up with a surging headache, aching bones, and to top it all off, a missing arm. A Brute chieftain stood in the corner with his arms crossed, he flared his nostrils with anger at Kai. "You've a lot to pay for what you did to the brethren of my kind." He pulled out his hammer and wrung it around his wrist.

When he slammed the hammer down on Kai, Kai rolled to the side, got up, and jumped on the Brute, scratching at his eyes. The brute grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground, the Brute was about to step on Kai's neck until Kai stole the brute's Spiker and plunged the spikes into the Brute's chest. The Brute was stunned, it staggered everywhere. Kai then pulled his combat knife out and stab it in the Brute's chest, and then kicked it off of his knife. "Now whose the heathen?" He turned to the door, he walked up to it and made the sounds of a hum, it opened. He ran and scanned the area, two Jackals with shields walking through the glowing, purple halls. He rolled behind some crates. He looked up, the Jackals were intrigued. They walked up to the stacked crates, and one of them went behind the corner that Kai was hiding behind. Kai jumped at the Jackal. He had to kill it, use it's body as a shield, and somehow kill the second, all with one arm. He stabbed the first Jackal in the neck, killing it instantly, and then ripped it's shield of it's wrist, then pulled it up right as the other fired.

He threw the body at the other Jackal, stunning it, and then bashed it's head with the shield. He then shot it in the top of it's head. He started to traverse the hallways more and more, he came across a squad of Grunts and Jackals. He tucked his gun under what was left of his right arm, pulled out his knife, and waited for the sounds of footsteps to edge nearer. He closed his eyes, giving him some relaxation, and then he ran, threw his knife at a Jackal's head, pulled up his shield, and slashed a Grunt's neck with it. He piked up the dropped Plasmas from the Grunt's corpse, stuck it on another Jackal, and kicked it into the group, whilst being fired at. The Jackal blew up, killing everything around it. He ran threw the door that the squad came out of, only to be greeted with a punch to the face. Kai flew back into a pile of weapon crates.

He shook his head to clear his senses. It was a Brute Chieftain. Kai got up and charged the Brute with his knife, the Brute grabbed his arm, forcefully pinned him on the ground, put his foot the ODST's face, and kicked. Kai heard his arm tear a bit as he slid across the floor. He got up on one knee, played with his arm, and painfully snapped it back into place. The Chieftain laughed, and pulled out the hammer which lied on his back, waiting to be drawn. He walked up to Kai, and beat him down again with the butt of the hammer. It was obvious the Brute didn't want him dead.

Kai coughed, spots of blood dotting his midnight visor. The Chieftain, grabbed his neck and growled. Kai winced. Was he going to die here? Images of his friends flashed in his mind, the smiles and laughs they shared with one another, it made Kai shed a tear. The question he asked himself again: _Am I going to die here?_


	4. Chapter 3: The Investigation

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA MONUMENT (INSIDE)

TIME: 2615

DATE: JULY 11, 2552

Nathaniel, Megan, Daniel, Alice, and Alice all were grouped together. Thinking of ways to find Kai. But on each of their minds they had doubt lying there, doubt that they'll ever find, see, or hear from Kai again. Nathaniel sat at the table, the glass on the sides of the room tinted with rain and cracks showing. Alice crossed her legs, and lie against the side of the entrance of the monument. Daniel sat at a table near Nathaniel, pondering where Kai could be. And Megan sat at the entrance next to Alice. It was nearing the darkest of all times of the squad member's lives, one of their best friends, missing, presumed dead. Nathaniel heard the city's superintendent ring a little, small, tune in his earpiece, which was usually used as an updated notification in objectives list. He checked his objectives, it was updated and said: FIND KAI AT ALL COSTS. Then, the tune rang again. It was in a tab he himself installed, it was called MESSAGES.

He installed it so he could get messages from higher-ups and squadmates, what was peculiar, however, was that it was from Kai. Nathaniel's eyes widened. The message read:

NATHANIEL, I AM ABOARD A COVENANT SHIP, I AM CURRENTLY BEING HELD CAPTIVE, I'M GOING TO SEND YOU MY COORDINATES. PLEASE, HURRY.

Kai, yet again, heard the tune, it was Kai's coordinates. He got up, getting his team's attention. "I know where Kai is."

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENFORCED GLORY_

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 11, 2552

Kai was in pain, being held in the hands of a Bute didn't exactly feel good. He then heard a voice, "Stop! You imbecile!" Kai leaned his head to the left, it was the Prophet of Remorse.

The Chieftain let go of Kai, and kneeled down to the Prophet. "I am sorry, mighty prophet. I was just making work of this fool." The Prophet nodded. "Take him to a more...concealed cell." the Prophet ordered. The Chieftain nodded.

The Brute grabbed Kai's arm, and dragged him down the halls, he mumbled at Kai, saying, "If the Prophet hadn't interrupted my quarrel with you, you would've been as good as dead, you understand?" Kai thought about it and responded, "Why didn't you kill me before?"

The Brute kept walking, then it said, "I like to toy with my victims before giving them the cold embrace that is death. You are one of the lucky ones who made it. But...let me assure you that our time together has not and will not end. You will die, and it could be tomorrow, a week from now, or even a _year_ from now. If you stop me from killing you somehow, you are only putting off the inevitable." Kai sat as he was being drageed. His right arm stinging. He needed to get out of here.

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA MONUMENT (INSIDE)

TIME: 2628

DATE: JULY 11, 2552

Alice sat up, "You know where Kai is!?" She said, a smile plastered on her face.

Nathan nodded. He then explained, "He sent a message to me, I installed a Message tab into each of our helmets, and I totally forgot about it. Kai sent me a message which held his coordinates. We just follow them and get him back." The sqaud agreed, except for Daniel.

"Sir, it could take hours or months before we reach Kai, he could already be dead by then. I don't think we could make it." Daniel said, sounding upset. Nathan looked at Daniel. "We have to try."

He then pointed at Alice, "Alice get COMMs online, notify the UNSC that we need extraction, send them our cooridnates. Once they get here, we'll take a ride with them, everyone keep COMMs on at all times in case Kai is able to establish readings with us, got it?" They all looked at one another, and then nodded.

"All right, let's go!" Nathan exclaimed. The ODSTs where then on the move, Alice started preparing COMMs, and Nathan stood in the monument, staring at a statue of a Spartan. "We'll find you Kai, I know we will." Nathan said to himself.

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENFORCED GLORY_

TIME" UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 12, 2552

Kai had woken up sitting on a bench, with a holograhpic chain tied around both of his legs. Each time he moved his legs to fast, it would either shock or burn them. He tasted blood in his mouth, he was still bleeding, slowly, but surely. He heard the door hum, and it split open, the Brute who had bludgeoned him just the day earlier had returned. "Arrogant creature, you have been called upon by the Prophet of Remorse." The Brute snorted. He shut off the holographic chains that were bounded against Kai's leg, and grabbed him by his head, once again. He was dragged across the floor all the way to where the Prophet was resided. The Prophet stared at him, "Who are you, scum?" he said, spitefully. Kai coughed, his lungs were in pain.

"M-My name is Kai, Kai Parker." Kai said softly. The Brute quickly punched him in the right cheek. "Speak...louder! So he may hear you." Kai spat blood, and then spoke again. "My name is Kai Parker." The Brute laughed. "Better."

The Prophet pondered for a moment, forcing himself to remember the name Kai Parker in case it was ever brought up again. "So from what I've heard, you pledeged to take your life over your partner's? Why was her life more important than your's? Do you have no esteem? Or did you think it was the... _right_ thing to do? And if you thought it was right, do you not realize what consequences you have brought upon yourself, _Kai Parker_?" The Prophet asked. Kai sat staring at the floor. The Brute went to punch Kai, but the Prophet raised his hand for him to halt his movement. "Let him think, Ivona. He's had enough beatings for now." the Prophet said, Ivona grumbled angrily.

Kai then spoke, "I-I-I, I thought it was the right thing to do. But after I made that choice, I soon realized the pain and trouble it had brought on me." The Prophet nodded. "Kai, you realize that these choices were made by you, yourself? You were the one who killed two of our most loyal Brutes, you were the one who escaped from your cell, and fought Ivona." Kai stared at the ground still.

"What are you saying?" he said, the points made by the Prophet piquing his interest. "The point I'm making, Kai, is that your choices are what brought you here. If you hadn't killed our Brutes, if you hadn't escaped your cell, if you hadn't fought Ivona. You would still be alive."

 _Alive? Wait, does he mean...that Ivona's gonna...no..._

He saw Ivona pull out his Spiker, and aim it at his head. He then pulled the trigger, and unloaded seven spikes into Kai's head. Kai fell limp, he was dead.


	5. Chapter 4: Midnight On The Cruiser

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA MONUMENT (Outside)

TIME: 1723

DATE: JULY 12TH, 2552

The weather was gloomy, raining upon Epsilon Squad. Nathan saw a notification pop up on his HUD. It read ALERT! A MEMBER OF YOUR SQUAD IS DEAD! Nathan's eyes popped open. He quickly scrolled to his Squad list, and sure enough, Kai was faded out and listed as DECEASED. Nathan could feel his emotions sprouting inside him. His team, who all had gotten the notification, shared this dreaded feeling with him. "I-I can't believe it happened." Alice said, tearing up.

She looked at Daniel, who hadn't showed emotion in a very long time, have dots on his VISR, a sign of tears. Nathan had dropped on his knees, Kai was dead. That left one spot in his team opened, a spot which was claimed by someone he called his best friend. He looked at his team, who had all called Kai their best friend, sharing this time with him. Daniel said softly, "I knew he would keep on kicking, b-before he dropped." Nathan heard something over his COMMs, " _This is 519er, reading you now. Please respond, Epsilon-1._ "

Nathan responded, trying his best to clear his tear-drawned voice, "Ahem, this is Epsilon-1, I read you 519er." There was a beat. Then the pilot responded, " _OK, we are inbound on your location, prepeare for transport, over._ "

Nathan looked at his team, "OK, over." He took his finger off his COMM piece, then looked at his team, again. He knew he would have to carry on with his death, but he would try his best to.

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENOFRCED GLORY_

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 12TH, 2552

Kai's dead body still lay there, the Prophet sat, staring at the body, he then spoke, "Hm, rash. I believe he would make quite an enemy if pushed far enough. Seven spikes, it took seven spikes to kill him. Ivona," the Prophet said, Ivona looked at him, "dispose of the body, and get your Brutes to clean the blood. Tonight, blood has been drawn." Ivona nodded. He picked Kai's dead body up. He carried it out of the room, Kai reached for his knife but Ivona grabbed his arm, halting the action, "You're lucky I didn't kill you, scum." Ivona said.

"Yeah, well, it's gonna take a while to heal from that." Kai responded, he freed his hand and began pulling spikes out of his head, it was severely painful, but he would get over it. "I think that was enough spikes to even label me as 'Deceased'. Well, things happen when stuff like this goes to work." Ki said, surprised. Ivona nudged him, "Quiet, someone's coming." Kai went limp, playing dead as two Brutes walked by, staring at Kai's "dead" body.

"Why is there spikes being held in his hand? Ivona-" Ivona quickly dropped Kai's body, charged at the Brutes and punched one of them in their cheekbone. The Brute flew to the ground, he took the other Brute's weapon, the Brute Shot. He turned the blade and jabbed it into the Brute's throat. Kai could hear the gargle of a dead Brute. He took the blade and then slammed it into the back of the skull of the Brute whom he had struck down. Kai heard snaps and cracks of the skull being punctured. He cringed a bit as it grew a litte bit louder, then it stopped. He felt himself being picked up again. "Was that entirely neccessary?" Ivona waited for the hall to be quiet.

"Yes, if they found out you were still alive...We'd both be dead." Kai looked back at the hall of the quarrel, the Brute Shot plunged deep into the back of the Brute's head, and the other with purple and red blood stains on the armor. "Well, when someone finds those dead bodies, it'll be a full on search for anyone who would do that." Ivona laughed lightly. "Now, if someone told them that you were alive, it'd be a much bigger search than a simple one, two, or three Brute team, now wouldn't it?" Kai had to agree, Ivona had a point.

They reached a room in which was considered an armory. On the walls were Type-51 carbines, Type-25 Brute Shots, Type-2 gravity hammers, Type-25 plasma rifles, Type-25 plasma pistols, Type-33 Needlers, Type-2 spike grenades, and Type-1 plasma genades. "Grab some weapons, ammo is located next to the weapons on the wall." Kai nodded.

Ivona grabbed a Type-25 plasma rifle, and a Type-2 gravity hammer. Kai grabbed a Type-33 Needler, and a Type-51 carbine. Each had two plasma grenades and two spike grenades. Ivona taught Kai had to reload both weapons, and they were on their way. They were on their way off the ship.

LOCATION: NEW CORONOCA MONUMENT (Outside)

TIME: 1726

DATE: JULY 12TH, 2552

The pelican landed, the thrusters kicking up water from the rain that came down. The landing gear settled on the ground, and the door slowly opened, the thrusters warped as Nathan and his team walked to the door to leave the city. Nathan sat at the far left of the seat, while the squad sat near each other. Nathan rested his right hand under his chin as he looked down, pondering waht he could've changed in his plan to not get Kai killed. The pelican took off, Nathan took off his helmet. His brown hair messed around with from his helmet. He rearranged his messy hair nicely, and sighed deeply. He was thinking, thinking until he heard Alice's voice.

"Nathan, don't you want to sit with us?" She says, looking over to him. Nathan pauses and said, "Y-yeah, yeah. I'll, uh, I'll be over there in a second."

He reminisced over the past he had had with Kai and the others. It made him choke up, as tears began to fall...He was in overwhelming, emotional pain, he knew Kai the longest out of anyone. He hand selected him for Epsilon when he had the chance, and now...He's gone. Nathan got up to join the others, as Nathan put on his helmet the pilot started to talk, "So, how'd the city do for ya?" Nathan was making his response, "It went as decent as it could get, but then...We...Lost someone near and dear to us, however..." Nathan said, his voice lowering.

"Oh, I see. Well, if you need anything you can just talk to me, I know what it's like...To lose someone." The pilot says, he then glanced at a photo that was in the corner of the pelican, the picture was a woman who was blonde, she looked like she was in her mid 20's, and she wore a marine uniform. He sighed softly, and continued to focus on his flight, "I'm coming home soon, Abigail." The rain hit hard on the glass that domed the pilot, lightning struck, then he had warning on his radar. "What the h-" The pelican jittered and shook violently, they were being shot at. The pelican started going down.

 _I'm coming home, Abigail...I'm...I'm coming home!_ The pilot thought.

The pelican, after taking severe damage, crashed into the side of a skyscraper. All of them but the pilot survived. The banshees that shot down the pelican flew overhead.

Nathan coughed, "Hey! Alice, Daniel, Megan, are you alright!?" The dust and smoke rose from the ground, but Nathaniel saw three beams of lights come on. Those, he knew, were there helmets' lights. "You three ok?" Nathan asked. Daniel nodded. Nathan felt something hot and sticky run down his leg.

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. Did I...pee myself?

He rubbed his leg, looked at his hand, and saw a red liquid.

He was bleeding.

Nathan looked at his right leg, it was cut open and raw with a rash around it the cut. He winced as he held it to stop the bleeding.

"Nathan, you alright?" Daniel asked, looking at him curiously. Nathan shook his head. It was a horrendously deep cut, it must've been from the shrapnel of the pelican. Alice looked at the cut. "It's a very deep wound, Nathan. We need medical attention."

Megan then added, "I'll call for evac, maybe then we can get a medic." Alice nodded, Megan began to call for evac. They were all in danger, and they all knew it.


	6. Chapter 5: Dawn On The Cruiser

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENFORCED GLORY_ (ENGINEERING ROOM)

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 13TH, 2552

Ivona and Kai roamed the lit, purple hallways of the _Enforced Glory_. They walked slowly as to not run into an enemy guards. They heard footsteps coming down the hallway, Ivona rolled into a corner and grabbed Kai. The Brute walked by, Ivona took his Gravity Hammer and slammed it down onto the Brute's back. It fell to the ground writhing in pain, until Ivona slammed it onto its head. Blood and purple blood fountained. Ivona nudged his head, signaling to keep moving.

Kai was walking behind Ivona since he was smaller and less easy to spot, they finally made it to the Escape Room. "Get in, heretic." Ivona said under his breath. "Hey, my name is Kai. Not that heretic stuff you and your race go on about." Kai shot back. Ivona snorted. Ivona stepped in the pod with Kai and closed the doors, he typed in the activation code and they were on their way off the _Enforced Glory_. "It is a shame that I must leave where I was born, but I must. In order to protect you."

Kai responded, "Yeah, what's up with that anyway? Don't you hate me for killing you brothers or something like that?" Ivona turned, "I still do. But, you are a strong individual, I can't let a worthy opponent liek you go to waste because _he_ ordered for it." He. Who was he?

Kai thought maybe he was talking about the Prophet of Remorse, but maybe he was right...However, if he was shot enough to say that he was deceased, he couldn't imagine the pain his friends were going through. But, it was going to be a very nice homecoming.

LOCATION: CHORUS, CAPITAL OF CORONOCA, BANK

TIME: 2812

DATE: JULY 13TH, 2552

After Megan called for an evac, the four found shelter in an abandoned bank. "So, we going to get shot down again after we call in this evac?" Daniel asked, sitting on the table. No one answered, they've been through many tragedies, but nothing on this scale. The window showed occasional strikes of lightning, roars of thunder, and dots of rain. Nathan had a bandage wrapped around his leg, a large dot of blood showing just how deep the cut was.

Nathaniel writed in pain, Daniel jumped off the table and sat in the corner of the bank, and slept. Alice walked over and sat next to Nathan, "Hey, how are you doing?" she asked, Nathan had his hands planeted on his helmet's forehead. "I-I, I can't believe he's gone, still..." he responded.

They heard the humming of a Phantom, its search light looking for any humans in sight. Megan stood near some of the windows, waiting for the pelican she called to arrive. Soon, she heard the sounds of a pelican coming in, Megan turned and called her team, "Guys, pelican's here!" the team walked outside, the rain patting on Nathan's black visor. The door of the pelican opened, and the team went inside, hopefully this time they weren't under fire.

LOCATION: MESOSPHERE OF COLONIZED PLANET UNDER NAME: REVERENCE

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

The pod started to set a fire around the hull as it neared the planet. Kai sat down as his head bobbed left and right, his stomach feeling thrown all over the place. "I'm going to throw up!" he shouts, his voice jittering to the shaking of the pod. Ivona laughed a light laugh, and responded, "Better get use to it, human, it's going to be a long interval."

7 HOURS LATER...

Kai and Ivona thrashed around in the pod as it struck the ground of Reverence. Kai got up, smacked the side of his head, and turned on his lights. Night crept out in the land of Reverence, and rain fell on them both. "It seems...quiet." Ivona said, stepping out of the pod. Kai stepped out of the pod, his boots making a slushed sound, he looked at the environment. Hills edging near open canyons, trees everywhere, and a lot of rocky terrain. Kai walked around, to get a feeling of the planet.

"I feel...lighter here." Kai said, jumping up and down to test his lightness. "That's what Reverence is known for..." Ivona responded.

Kai cocked his head a bit, "Reverence?" he said. Ivona looked back at him, "Reverence is what we call it, we treat it with deep respect."

"Why's that?" Kai asked. Ivona looked at the cliff, pointed to it, and responded, "That cliff is the birthplace of our leader, our prophet...The Prophet of Remorse," He said, "but...I no longer respect it." That's the second time that Kai noticed Ivona talking out the Prophet with hatred swallowing his tone. He pondered the thought of Ivona having a recent bad side to Remorse, he was going to ask why when Ivona was shot with a tranquilizer dart, Kai looked at him and ran over to him but a rifle shot from an M392 DMR halted him, it hit near his foot, a warning shot. He looked up in shock of the sudden bullet, to see he was surrounded by UNSC personnel, but cloaked. They each uncloaked one by one, then one shouted, "You have trespassed the grounds of Reverence! Leave immediately, or we will use deadly force! This is your one and final warning! Any actions of retaliating and we will open fire!" That's when Kai knew he was a long ride from home.

LOCATION: UNSC Pelican (In-flight).

TIME: 3192

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

The pelican flew through the air, Nathan could see the flashes of lightning from his perspective. The pilot was not very vocal, he seemed more focused on his flight. This was their second flight in less than a day, and they were exhausted, they all wanted to go home.

5 HOURS LATER...

Nathan had drifted asleep on the second hour of the flight, his teammates had all woken up, and he had just woke up. He opens his eyes to a slant, and saw Alice standing in front of Daniel and Megan. He looks at his clock he had installed, 3721 hours. He had been asleep for almost 6 hours. He looked to his right to see the pelican door opened, and the crowds of people walking around.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate Further Unto Glory

TIME: 3722

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

The ship was massive, and in the middle of space. Nathan stepped out of the pelican and looked around, crew members going back and forth, carrying supplies, working on the ship's technology, and pushing carts. "It's massive here. The only other ship I've been in was the one before we dropped into Coronoca." Nathan said to Alice.

Nathan and his team walked to the Captain's office, it was nice and distinctive, the giant sign gave it away. Nathan walked to it, knocked on the door, it slid open. The Captain stood at the doorway, looking at Nathan, "Ah, an ODST team? I haven't seen one in ages! Come in." Nathan gave the "hold here" signal to the team and walked in. It had a great view of the stars and the giant desert-like planet. He saw the Captain walk over to a table in the corner of the room, and pull a small, fragile, cup out of the drawers which were above the table. He then grabbed a large bottle of wine, it was a brand he did not recognize, it was called _Apple Orchard_. The brand name made Nathan feel sorrow. The Captain poured the wine into the cup, he then took a small sip of it. "Would you like some wine, sir?" the Captain offered. Nathan nodded.

The Captain took another glass out, poured the wine into it, and then handed it to Nathaniel. He took the glass and placed it down on the table next to the two chairs in the room. Nathan sat down in the chair to the left of the of the window, and the Captain then took his seat. Nathan took off his helmet and placed it onto the floor next to the chair. "So, your name, sir?" the Captain asked, Nathaniel sipped some of his wine, "It's Nathaniel, sir. Nathaniel Wright." The Captain nodded, sipped his wine, and asked another question, "How...how did you get here?"

Nathan looked around, and responded, "We came here after the drop in Coronoca was...somewhat successful." The Captain cocked his eyebrow. He then said, "Somewhat successful? Elaborate, please." Nathan took a big sigh, he knew the somewhat successful part was...Kai.

LOCATION: REVERENCE CANYON

TIME: 3892

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

The UNSC soldiers had just tranquilized Ivona, and they all had their guns aimed at Kai. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I'm an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper! Don't shoot, I am UNSC personnel!" The leader of the the soldiers grunted, and then said, "Hmph, fine. Stand down, men." They all lowered their guns.

The leader jumped down from the cliffside, he wore an advanced form of the standard ODST armor. It looked normal, but it was scarred, had trims of red, and a different look on the helmet. "What brought you here, trooper?" the leader asked. Kai pointed to the sleeping Ivona. He laughed, "That thing? I thought it hated humans." Kai shrugged and said, "It does, but it apparently does not want me to die, for whatever reason." The leader laughed.

Kai then asked, "What's your name, anyhow?" The leader took a moment to respond, "The name's Gabriel. Your's?" Kai responded quickly, "My name is Kai." Gabe then nodded.

Kai, again, asked another question, "So, what's going on here on Reverence?" Gabe sighed deeply. He then responded, "We are in the middle of a civil war. I am the leader of the stealth team, we were on our way to the city of Monolith, until we saw you guys come crashing down. I sent a team out to investigate," Gabe paused, pondered for a moment, then continued, "they found you guys and waited for us. And now...we're here." Kai nodded.

The flashes of lightning appeared in the sky, and the roars of thunder were liud and omnious. Gabe's troopers were all pelted in rain, but they didn't care.

Kai put his SMG away and asked, "So, what do we do, now?" Gabe looked up at the clouds drifiting over the sacred plains in the dry, dead canyon. "We fight. Intel says we got an enemy post up ahead, just east of our location. You can come if you want, but I do not guarrantee survival." Kai pondered the choices. He could chose to stay with Ivona, or help fight the supposed enemy of Reverence. But either way, it would have a huge impact on their situation.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate Further Unto Glory

TIME: 3895

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

Nathan explained his story of how they got there, the Captain listened well. He took a sip of his Apple Orchard wine, cleared his throat, and asked, "I'm deeply sorry about your friend, I've lost people to...Do you need anything?" the Captain asked. Nathan shook his head.

The door beamed a green light and it opened, his squad stepped inside. "Ah, your team...Would you all like a drink?" Alice looked at Daniel. Daniel laughed and said, "Sure, why not? I'll take one." The Captain smiled and got up. He poured Alice, Daniel, and Megan a drink, Megan grabbed her's and chugged it down, Daniel drank his slowly, and Alice didn't drink. The Captain walked up to her, "Bad day?" he asked.

Alice nodded a sad nod. "It's about your friend, isn't it?" Alice, again, nodded.


	7. Chapter 6: A Gift of Times

The Captain pulled a small little case of cigars, labeled Sweet William. The brand was very familiar. She remembered, as a child, her father smoking them when he was experiencing a PTSD. It somehow reminded him that things were okay, that he was not in a war anymore. The Captain pulled out a cigar, lit it, then put it in his mouth. "Well, you're going to be ok. You'll make it home, I'll make sure of it."

Alice layed her head in the middle of her arms, still struck by the moment Nathan confirmed that Kai was KIA. Her drink lie beside her, she saw the beige colored liquid glimmer in the light of the Captain's office. She picked up the drink, sat up, and took a small swig. I-I need a drink. She thought. She put it down, and took another small drink. She repeated that until the glass was empty. She looked around the room, her friends looked as she did. Upset, angry, and tired. She looked down at her leg, her knife holstered there, she grabbed it and examined it. The initials EC were carved in it, Eric Castle. Her husband. She knew she was not alone, but...she felt as if she was. She felt herself crying, and she let loose. It was not going to be an easy recovery. She heard footsteps behind her, it was Daniel.

She took off her helmet and looked at him, Daniel did the same. "You alright, kid?" he asked. Alice breathed slowly through her nose, and shook her head. Daniel looked down, "Well, at least you still have us."

Daniel sat down next to her, and put his arm around her. "Listen, Alice," That got her attnetion, she looked at him, "you're going to make it out with us, I'm going to make it out with you. As long as you got us, there is no need to worry." She took consideration of Daniel's statement. And, he was right. As long as they could live, make it out of the war, they'll be okay.

LOCATION: REVERENCE CANYON

TIME: 3899

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

Kai hugged the canyon wall as Gabriel's men hiked through the dry ground. He was full of guilt for abandoning Ivona, but he felt that helping Gabriel was the right thing to do. Kai moved ahead as Gabriel passed through a cave. Kai approached he peak of the small, natural walkway, and looked through his binoculars carried on his right leg. He heard his radio crackle, "See anything?" Kai examined the outpost for a moment, then responded, "...Yeah. Two soldiers positioned at the top of the post, three guarding the caves, and three more guarding the entrance." The outpost looked heavily guarded, but nothing impossible.

Kai picked up a rock, and threw it. The rock hit the wall of the post, and a guard hesitated to said wall. The guard walked to the other side of the wall, Kai heard a faint, "Hello?"

Kai put his finger on his COMM button, "We got one distracted, taking him out." There was two beats. Then Gabriel responded, "Negative, I've got one of my men cloaked back there, he'll get 'em." Kai looked at the guard, he saw the guard fall to his knees, then be thrown violently to the ground, and his arm pull the opposite way of his head. He heard a snap. He then heard Gabriel shout, "Open fire!" Kai took his Magnum and shot two guards in the head, both falling to the ground. He sprinted to the outpost door, kick it open, and run in.

A riot shield hit him in the face and he flew to the ground on his back. He lie there, and the man stepped over him, and gave him a good three or four punches in the right and left cheekbone. Kai kicked the man in the chest, he flew off of him. Kai took out his two daggers, this was his strong suit...he was an expert at close quarters combat. The man laughed, and chaged at him, unbeknownst of Kai's expertise with knives. Kai dodged the bull charge and gave a good stab in the man's back. The man fell to the floor, reached for his back, but Kai knew what he was going to try to do. He stepped on the hilt of the blade, pushing the knife deeper in his back. He then gave in, and died.

Kai saw Gabriel and his men charge into the building, three of his men carrying explosives. One of the men placed an explosive on the generator, another placed one on the generator power outlet, and the last of the demolitionists placed one on the buildings monitors. "Set timer for 60 seconds, boys." Gabriel commanded, receiving nods from the demolitionists. "Alright, timers are set, now let's get out of here." Thomas, the tallest of the demolitionists said. Gabriel turned to the door and ran out with his men. Kai went to run, but he felt something grab his leg, he fell down, turned around, and saw the man whom he thought was dead. The man laughed, and pulled Kai towards him, Kai kicked him in the face, but the man didn't lose his grip. Kai glanced at the timer's on the explosives, 10 seconds.

He delivered another blow, 8 seconds.

He stabbed his hand, 6 seconds.

Then, he gave up. 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

A white flash blinded Kai.

LOCATION: ?

TIME: ?

DATE: ?

He woke up. Feeling the gentle touch of an ocean against his foot. The sun was setting, and the sand was stuck to his glove. As he stood up, his legs felt wonderful and free. And the crisp wind against his parched lips. It was like a pradise to him. Alone, in a beautiful, beautiful abode. He stepped into the ocean. It was cold, but refreshing. He walked further into the ocean, the codl embrace pacing against his legs once more. He turned to face a large cliff, with a cave cutting n the middle, and palm trees surounding the top of the cliff face. He saw birds flying, and the wind did blow again. He felt his face going from a delighted smile, to a concered frown. What if he couldn't stay here?

He knew he wouldn't, and couldn't, stay here forever. But what if? What. If.


	8. Chapter 7: Darkness Falls

He saw a bright light appear behind, a female Forerunner. She looked to be 9 feet...An overwhelming difference to him. She had violet colored eyes, and a what appeared to be a helmet was being donned by her. She descended down next to him. "Oh, how gracious you are to wait here for me, human." She said. He responded back, "...Who are you?" She smiled.

She looked at him for a beat, then said, "You will know who am I...when the time comes." That was not a good answer to him, but one he could accept nonetheless. He looked at her, "What...What are you?" He asked, only to receive yet another smile from her. "I am a Forerunner. And you, are a descendant of my kind." He was a descendant...A descendant of her? "Why are you here, why am I here?" He asked. She looked down, and responded. "I brought you here. I called you here. I only appear here becasue I was to talk to you. Only an unconcious mind can be here." He was...Unconcious? How could that be? "I'm unconcious?" he asked, getting only a nod from her. "We don't have much time, you are about to be awoken. Just heed my warning, and you will be safe." She said. A warning? "Wait, a warning? What is it?" She sighed, "I only came here to tell you...That your enemy and your kind...Are not the only enemy on the planet. And with the warning, I must say this, the next time you fight your enemies," she paused, then continued, "you are not fighting them alone."

LOCATION: REVERENCE CAVERN HIDEOUT

TIME: 6198

DATE: JULY 14TH, 2552

He shot up. He felt his sweat drizzle down his forehead. He rubbed his sweat off and sat up, breathing heavily. Gabriel sat next to him, "Hey, guys! He's awake!" He's awake? He looked through the cave's opening, Gabriel's men walked in. "Kai, you alright man?" Thomas asked him. Kai nodded. He looked beside him, a torch was lit and it gave off particles of smoke. "You were out for a while, man. We even thought you were dead." One of the men, Kyler, said. "W-What happened?" Kai asked, feeling drowsy.

Gabriel sat up, "We blew up the outpost, but the enemy got away. So...we're here. In our little hideout waiting for another opportune moment." The outside atmosphere of the cave was dark, and the stars shone above Reverence. Kai noticed that his helmet was next to him, he felt his face, nothing. But his helmet was not so lucky, he saw a huge crack on it, more likely than not from the explosion. He felt his chest, it hurt badly and saw a bandgage around his chest, with a large spot of blood. "You got that from the shrapnel of the base. You're pretty luck that Private Cunningham found ya." Joshua, one of Gabriel's trusty lieutenants, said, noticing Kai glance at his bandage. "How long was I out?" Kai asked, still a little dazed. One of the soldiers, Damian, stepped up and said, "You were out for a good 3 or 4 hours, we got you back after Cunningham reported him finding you." Cunningham, that was the second time they mentioned him. "...Can I see Cunningham?" One of the soldiers nodded, "Hey! Cunningham!" He waved his arm towards them, "Aight, he's coming." Kai nodded.

He saw the private nervously made his way through the crowd of soldiers. The private quickly saluted Kai, "Sir! Nice to see you again, er, sir!"

Kai couldn't help but smile, his life was saved by the kid. Cunningham had orange hair, and some freckles around his face, most noticable at the peak of his forehead. "Hey, Cunningham, come over here would ya?" He motioned him over.

Cunningham walked over to Kai, and kneeled down next to him. Kai looked at him, and said, "What did you see when you found me?" Cunningham's eyes looked down, and looked back up and locked connection with Kai's and responded, "All I saw was you, no one else?...Does that bother you?"

It did. How did the explosion not kill him? After he gave up, the man was still fighting him.

It meant that man was alive, and he was still looking for Kai.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate Further Unto Glory

TIME: 1154

DATE: JULY 15TH, 2552

Nathan was the first to wake up, he and his squad were in one of the Forward Unto Glory's special sleeping quarters of the ship, which was used by ODSTs or SPARTANS as to give the crew some breathing room. He sat up on the bottom of the bunk, Alice occupied the top. He wore a gray shirt, with an eagle and the acronym UNSC on it. They had all set their armor in different piles as to not be confused with one another's, and their helmets lay on top of the stacks.

The room was dead quiet, and just a little claustrophobic, but nothing the team couldn't get used to. There were also a row of two lights in the room, one of them dying and the other healthy as can be, all Nathan heard in the small room was the sound of a clock ticking, he looked at it: 1155. Was it really that early?

He looked at the bottom and top of each of the bunk beds, all of his squadmates were sound asleep. He pulled up a chair in the corner of the room and sat down. H then pulled some pictures out of his pockets, which the pictures had always been with him wherever he went, and looked at them. It was him and Kai, at a bar, at their graduation from training, and one at Nathan's wedding taken in 2543. Her name was Jamie. Jamie Wright.

And he weeped.

LOCATION: NORWOOD PARK, CHICAGO

TIME: 5:35 PM

DATE: AUGUST 9TH, 2543

Audio Recording started:

Today is the day, today is the day I get married. I told myself. I felt myself at first a little queasy at first, I didn't know what to tell her! I dressed myself in my tuxedo and put my small napkin in my pocket above my left breast.

The ushers walked down the siblings, grandmothers and grandfathers, mother and father of the groom and bride and that was when I was struck by her beauty in that white dress as her father walked down the aisle. I saw her father and mother tear up, as did my parents as well.

The groomsman were my three friends over my years in school, Victor Divine, Isaiah Young, and Damian Grant. However, my best man was none other than my closest friend: Kai Castle.

Jamie walked up the stairs to me, and we held each other's hands. The priest read our vows, and as soon as he said, "You may now kiss the bride." My stomach dropped, this was it. That my brother would get another sister, and my sister...well, another sister. My dad and mom, a new daughter, Jamie's mom and dad, a new son. It was a beautiful day for me, Jamie, and our families.

We went to the reception, which was held at a large bar and diner. We sat at a large table with both families, me and Jamie sitting next to each other. We ate dinner, and had a few drinks together, and we danced to our favorite songs that we had danced to on our third date. Then, when the mother son was announced to be occuring soon, I glanced at my mother...She was crying tears of happiness. We did the dance, and talked to each other, until I felt myself, also, crying. Then, it was the father daughter dance, and by the looks of it, Jamie's father was already in tears. After the dances, I sought after Kai.

I found him, sitting outside, enjoying the view. This was nothing different for him, Kai had always enjoyed pleasant views. Whether he was at school, on the bus, in his room, at his house...He always had his eye for the finer things. I asked for two drinks, Apple Orchard, a favorite of our's. I walked outside, Kai glancing over to me. "Oh, it's just you." He said, smiling.

I sat next to him, "Apple Orchard?" and handed him the glass. He took it, and sipped. "Ah, one of the finer apples in life, wouldn't you say?" He said, smiling again. I couldn't help but agree.

We drank together, I felt some of the liquid drip down my chin and onto my tuxedo. It fizzed as it landed, and a smudge of beige liquid showed, and then I rubbed it off. Kai looked down, and asked, "Hey, Nate...Can I be serious for a second?" I was, at first, shocked. Kai was never serious before.

Being close friends, I told him that he may. That's when he asked, "You ever...You ever thought of joining the UNSC?" I pondered the thought for a moment, letting his words sink in. "No, why?" I responded.

He finished his drink, and said, "Because I was thinking of joining the other day. I know it's a rash thought, but..." I stopped him. "Kai, this isn't rash. You want to join the UNSC? Do it. I'll do it with you, after all-that's what friends do, right? I'll be by your side, the entire way." He smiled at the thought. This truly was a moment to be shared.

But it wouldn't be that way after an interval of time passed.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate Further Unto Glory

TIME: 1214

DATE: JULY 15TH, 2552

Nathan wept for the longest of times, a good twenty minutes. He saw his tear drops on the photo. The photo of him, Kai, and Jamie at the hospital after Jamie had their daughter, Angela. He wondered how she was doing, being stuck with no father for four years. He longed to see Jamie again, and finally be able to hold conversations with his 6-year old daughter.

Another photo showed him and Jamie at a monument in Chicago, These were all years ago, however feeling like two days ago. It still hit Nathan hard having to tell Jamie he was enlisted in the UNSC. She cried for what felt like an eternity, she feared for him.

The sound of a person yawning disturbed Nathan. He turned around to see that Alice had awoken. She stretched and then rubbed her left eye, "Nathan?" he heard her say.

He didn't respond for a few beats, "Yeah...Yeah it's me." He knew he had to hide his tears, he did not feel like answering any questions Alice might have if she saw him cry.

He cleansed his face with his wrist, and rubbed both his hands down the center of his face. He felt tired, but not to terribly tired. Alice asked, "Nathan, what're you doing up, by the way?" Nathan still felt himself crying.

He then lied, "I just couldn't sleep." He could sleep just fine...But, what woke him up was his terrifying dream of Kai.

LOCATION: SANGHELIOS ANCIENT TEMPLE: TEMPLE OF YU'KRAHN VADAM'EE

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 15TH, 2552

The cracks in the stone walls of the temple had whistled wind through it, the tall statues of the armor-less Sangheili had also beared cracks on it. And the pieces of the arms and legs sounded as if it were to collapse at any moment, of any day.

The Sangheili warrior, Va'z 'Kusovai, walked up to the broken statue of Yu'krahn Vadam'ee, and planted his energy sword into the ground, bowed, and prayed.

O most gracious and resiliant, please grant me strength for anything that may come upon me. Grant me the leadership of my father, who's leader skills shall not be matched, and that of my grandfather's. Grant protection for my wife, and my kin...For they have not deserved death. He prayed.

He heard the footsteps behind him, and a voice, "Va'z...Why must you come here everyday of your life? Shall you not join me and your brethren today?" the Sangheili general, To'maz 'Sumai, asked.

Va'z did not speak to him for a moment, still basking in Vadam'ee's presence. He then stood up, picked up his sword, put it on his left leg, and said, "I shall join today. But I do not intend on keeping that promise." This angered 'Sumai, making him put his hand on his blade, pulling it out a little bit in the process, "Fool! Do not toy with me with promises you do not intend to keep! It is a simple question, you shall be there, or you shall not be there?"

The wind blew again, the silence growing eerie. The cracks from the wall were finally heard. The sight of birds in the distance, making their loud, screeching sounds. "Then I shall answer your simple question...with a simple answer. Yes. I shall be there." The answer satisfied 'Sumai, and he pushed his blade back, and released his grasp from it. He did a light laugh, and walked out of the temple.

1 HOUR LATER

LOCATION: SANGHELIOS ARENA: TRAINING/PREPARATION TEMPLE

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 15TH, 2552

Va'z walked into the arena, the temple's perimeter laced with Sangheili statues. It was a small temple, but one that Sangheili used to train and prepare for battles. It was him against three other Sangheili: K'tasa 'Mdama, Do'mez 'Moramee, and To'maz 'Sumai. It was a battle of swordsmanship, wits, and agility, after five beats, all the Sangheili charged at one another. The rules were simple: If you were hit in any vital areas, such as the head or chest, you were declared dead. If you commit murder in the arena, accidentally or purposefully, you yourself will be put to death. And, any sharpened wooden clubs are disqualified. The game was simply known as: Bat.

Va'z struck K'tasa in the legs, sending him sprawling to the floor, where he was struck in the head by Do'mez. Va'z got hit in the back by To'maz, he fell to the floor, and dodged the incoming attack from him. He rolled to the left, and kicked To'maz's legs out from under him, where he then struck him in the head. It was just him and Do'mez. The two clattered clubs together, they each knew each other's every move. Until, Va'z saw something unusual: a glint from Do'mez's eye. It sent images flying through his mind, until he was struck down in the chest.


	9. Update!

**OK, guys! I know I haven't updated this story in a while! But...BUT! BUT!...I will be posting a small teaser for the next Helljumper's Prime (I recently finished it on wordpad, now comes the fun part of splitting it into chapters! D:). The second part will be called...something, I haven't had a name yet, BUT it will be a darker and more...Scary?, story.**

 **Back on topic about the teaser, it will be arriving soon. I'm not going to tell yet, but it'll be soon. Maybe early January OR a few days after Christmas! So, just be aware and have fun!**

 **-dajsk**


	10. Caliginous Zenith Preview

Kai roamed the halls of the ship, due to the appearance, it was a prisoner ship, no doubt. He roamed the halls until he found a room, a man sat behind a desk, his fingers danced across the keyboard he had. Kai walked up to him. "...Ahem, may I please see Prisoner #312. The one being currently held in solitary confinement?" The guard look baffled. He looked around and then responded, in a hushed tone.

"Uh, sorry, sir. No can do."

"Please, sir."

"I'm sorry. Without proper clearance, I can't let you do that."

"Here-"

"O-Oh! Right, this way, sir! I had no idea you were-"

"It's fine."

The guard walked into a room with dim lights, and a singular, lonesome cell. In it, sat the fearsome, psychopathic, emotionless man: Lance. Lance Parker.

The guard then gave Kai a watch, "When the watch hits 6:00, you're out of here." This gave him 10 minutes to talk.

Lance laughed, "You're looking swell, today...Kai."

"You're looking nice, too. Now tell me, why are you in here, Lance?"

"Don't you know? I'm not all up there," he tapped his left temple.

"I know that, but why are you on this ship?"

"The prisons on planets don't particularly like a seasoned murderer on ground with civilians. So, they sent me on this skeleton of a ship."

Kai put his arms inside the cell, hung down low, "Things aren't looking to good down there, anyways."

"Hahaha, well, I can't be court martialed, then. That's good, got more than I can count."

"You're supposed to be on trial today-"

"Can't exactly just...Hop right out and do that, now can I?"

"No, but Lance I heard they're going to put a monitor in here so you can have testimony, without physically being there."

Lance scoffed, "How ridiculous..."

"It's for the law, Lance. You killed thousands of innocent people!"

"It was for the greater good!"

"Because of you, riots are in the streets!"

"Not my problem now, is it?!"

"You betrayed ME!"

Lance fell silent. He then grabbed Kai's neck and pulled him.

"Listen to me Kai," He squeezed harder, "whether or not I am found guilty is not your concern. I killed people, yes, but...We all die at some point, don't we?" He grabbed a knife, Kai saw the white gleam of a knife in the dark cell.

"Get out of here." He then pushed Kai back.

He hit the back of his head on the crates, and a pile of weapons fell. Kai rubbed the back of his head, and sighed.

 _What am I going to do with him?_ thought Kai.


	11. Chapter 8: A Past Only He Knows

**Behold! The next chapter to _Halo: Helljumper's Prime_! I know I've been lazy, but due to that, this chapter will be significantly longer and more of a doozy, so with that said, enjoy!**

 **-dajsk**

ONE WEEK LATER

LOCATION: VA'Z 'KUSOVAI'S SHELTER/HOME

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

His eyes opened, how long was he out for? He scanned around the room it felt...familiar. Of course, it was his house. He saw his wife, Han 'Kusovai, sitting next to him, "Va'z? Va'z!" She exclaimed.

He felt like he had been in an eternal rest. "Han-how long was I gone for?" He asked, he saw her trying to not to answer, but she gave in, "You were gone for seven days. Seven days, Va'z. Don't scare me like that, ever again. Please. You prayed to Yu'krahn Vadam'ee that he would protect us from harm or conflict."

She was right, he had done that.

Va'z got up, he saw the bright light creep from the open, stone window. He knew he was in his shelter. "Where are the children?"

Han responded, "The children are out playing. What I am concerned about, Va'z, is you. What is troubling you, husband?"

Va'z knew he had to respond, he could not keep his wife in the dark of what he had seen in Do'mez's eyes. The horrifying images which he wants to keep buried, the tales of his children's fates it told, and the bloodstain which his own in _that_ image, he sighed, "While we were battling in the temple, Do'mez's eye sent images flying through my mind. I do not know why I saw such..vile images. But it is something I want to forget."

There, he had told her, but he did not feel right about it.

He did not want to remember the images, yes, but he also wanted information on them, as well. He closed his eyes and thought back to that fateful day, the day the images crawled into his mind…

LOCATION: VA'Z 'KUSOVAI'S MIND

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: UNKNOWN

 _VA'Z! VA'Z! YOU PROMISED VA'Z!...No! Don't go, father!_ An image of his dead child appeared quickly, and just as quickly disappeared. _Silence!_ He had not talk to his children like _that,_ before. _I must go._ An image showed his village burning, dust and ash. _Heresy is not something we will hold against you lightly._ Heresy? But he followed orders faithfully, and truly! _You are no longer worthy of your rank, Va'z 'Kusovai…_ A light brightly shone in his eyes...And he woke up.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, _NO MAN'S LAND_ HILLTOP

TIME: 4216

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Kai looked through the binoculars his ally had given him. "Looks like they're just gathering vehicles, for now." He said, not taking his eyes off his binoculars. He saw the warthogs, the scorpions, and the mongooses all line up, and saw a man with a mask...That _must've_ been the leader.

He took his silenced sniper rifle, and lined up a shot...He took a breath...Put his crosshairs over the leader's head...And pulled the trigger. It hit the head, but didn't penetrate...Was that mask bullet resistant? The leader sprawled to the floor in shock, he saw the vapor trail of the sniper, and ordered his men to attack the hilltop. He saw scorpion canopies turn, warthog turrets turn, and people looking to the hills.

Two soldiers uncloaked behind him, and went in for stabs. Kai grabbed one of the soldier's arms, and turned the blade with his own arm into his chest. The soldier fell to the ground, his chest bleeding from the wound.

The other soldier got into a knife fight with Kai. Kai connected blades with the soldier, then kicked him in the stomach to the ground. He jumped on the soldier and stabbed him in the neck, killing him swiftly. He turned around and hastily picked up his sniper rifle again, he looked through the sights, the leader pulled out his Magnum and unloaded rounds at his general direction. Kai ducked his head as the bullets collided with the rocks that gave him cover, tiny pieces of said rocks fell onto Kai as the bullets shattered them. Kai leaned to the right as a bullet grazed his visor. He began to frantically breath in and out, his life was on the line.

Just who was this man, and what were his plans?

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate _Further Unto Glory_

TIME: 1217

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Nathan could still remember the chilling nightmare he had of Kai.

It was just him and Kai in what seemed to be...a void. Kai stood there. Motionless, breathless...lifeless. Nathan reached out his finger, he tapped Kai on his shoulder, his shoulder snapped out of position. Then his other shoulder, then his legs, his chest...then his head, he fell on his knees. His visor shattered, and a pool of blood fountained out. Nathan's face reflected in the blood, but it was not _his_ own face. It was another's.

His face had similarities, was it his? It was. He felt something drop in his hand, a Magnum. He looked back at Kai's fractured body, it looked normal. But there was a gaping hole in the middle of his visor, and fresh smoke emitted from Kai's head and the Magnum. Blood slowly poured out of Kai's blank, black, face.

Nathan looked at his own body, he was coated in blood. _Kai's_ blood. Nathan did not feel concern, remorse, or sadness. His expression was blank. He then pulled the Magnum's barrel back.

He put the Magnum up to his head, and fired.

That's when Nathan shot up, breathing heavily. Was this just his mind playing games with him...or was it a message?

He was going to tell Alice, but he did not want to. He didn't need to. Alice saw Nathan's photos. "Nathan, what's that?" she pointed at Nathan's left hand, the hand which held the photos.

Nathan looked at his hand, "...Just some memories of mine. Some sweet, some...not so sweet." He said as a tear shed, and splashed onto the photos.

LOCATION: ?

TIME: ?

DATE: ?

"That's the third one this week!" he said, holding his part of the assailant's cuff.

"We'll ask the chief what we should with him, he's just a killing machine." said the other man, armed with a Magnum.

He was dragged across the ground on his knees, he felt blood being drawn, but did not mind. He felt blood was meant to be drawn. The door opened, and the men entered the station.

"Chief, sir!" he saluted, "...he's done it again. What should with him?" he cocked his head quickly towards the assailant, sending a physical message.

"...You may leave," the two men saluted and left the room. The chief sat down at the desk. The nameplate on his desk shone in the light, revealing the letters S, e, a and n. The chief's name.

"Alright, _Lance Parker_. For the past month, you've killed seventy-nine people, and injured, to the point of near death, nineteen people. Sounds to me that you shall be put somewhere other than cell."

"...Go ahead. Do it. Kill me." His voice was raspy and deep.

"I have no intention of killing you, Lance. We're sending you on a UNSC pelican...Cuffed. The prisons here, and on other planets, don't want you on their ground."

"...It's because they're scared. Of me."

"Exactly. So, you will arrive on the UNSC _Daychaser_ , where you will be put in solitary confinement."

"...Just...Just...Kill me. Pull the trigger. Make me kiss an oncoming train. Do _something_."

"Now now, that's not the attitude I want."

"Why not? It just makes this more fun to me, that's all."

"...Hmph. Now, you'll be scheduled to leave tomorrow. So, say goodbye to your loved ones, pack your stuff, and, for God's sake, stop slaughtering."

"Heheheh, no promises."

A FEW HOURS LATER...

 _"Tomorrow? But-"_

"I know Kai. I'm going to miss you, too. Besides, I haven't seen you for four years."

 _"...Lance...Why-Why did you have to commit your life to such...such...inhumane actions?"_

"Sometimes, a man's brain just-snaps."

 _"...I understand."_

"I'm sure mom would be proud if she could see you today, Kai. I give you my gratitude and pride. See ya, bud."

 _"Good night."_

 _He hung up._

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate _Further Unto Glory_

TIME: 1223

DATE: JULY 15TH, 2552

Nathan got out of his room to get some breakfast. "I feel...I feel an outcast here." Daniel said. Nathan looked around, seeing Marines, scientists, and people who generally belonged there. "I know what you mean."

Alice waved towards Nathan, Daniel, and Megan, "Hey guys! Over here!" Nathan turned towards the voice, and saw Alice at a table with an apple, water, and a bowl of oatmeal. "The breakfast here is great!" Alice said, with joy.

Nathan sat down, "Alice. I want to talk with you for a second..." Alice cocked her head, "Sure, ok." she folded her hands under her chin.

Nathan tensed up. _Should I even be telling her this?_ he thought to himself. "...Well, last night...I had...I had a nightmare...About _him_...About Kai."

Alice's smile turned into her more serious face, "Nathan...What was it about?" She looked eager.

Nathan began to tell her, "It was just me and him in some sort of...void. And Kai just...stood there. No expression or movement, I touched his shoulder and it snapped, then his whole body began to snap out of place. Then his head twisted 180 degrees, his visor exploded and blood fountained. His body was normal again, but his visor had smoke coming out of it. I looked into the pool of blood, and saw me in it, but my face had a large scar. And in my hand, was a Magnum. And it looked recently fired...And...And..."

He weeped. Alice moved closer to Nathan, attempting to comfort him. "Nathan, I think...I think you need some time to yourself. You need some closure with Kai."

Nathan knew Alice was right, but...could he really have closure with Kai? They were friends for...God knows how long. His mind released images, one of the images was him in the fourth grade. Him and Kai. They swore they were friends from there on. Nathan felt himself unconsciously move up and out of his seat. He went to the barracks and sat down, and had a nice talk with him and Kai.

"Hey, man...I want to talk to you." He started the conversation.

LOCATION: VA'Z 'KUSOVAI'S SHELTER/HOME

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Va'z stepped out of his small bedroom, into outside world. The sandy terrain of Sanghelios soothed his tiding, brawling emotions. He looked around him and saw the bustling in the state of Ontom. He saw the carts being pulled with loads of grain and farming utensils. He saw his kids run around with their wooden sticks for training.

His eldest child, Nar'v 'Kusovai, struck one of his five children in the ankle, knocking him over. He was proud of Nar'v, he took his training seriously and when he did, he was almost unstoppable and powerful. His wife stopped him in his tracks, she then spoke, "Va'z, don't leave and put yourself in harm's way. I don't want to risk losing you." she said, still holding onto Va'z's arm.

Va'z knew he loved his wife, but he needed to find Do'mez 'Moramee. He needed to confront him about those "images". He walked out and spoke to his wife, "I'll be back, back before you'll know I'm gone." and he left.

He walked through the tunneling systems used for transportation, the other Sangheili bustled around, and he found the other city of Ontom. He looked around the city, looking for Do'mez's humble abode. That's when he found a peculiar house, Do'mez was known for his strange interest in finding new shapes and designs. He knocked on the stone-type door, to which whom opened it up was Do'mez. Do'mez 'Moramee.

"Ah, my dear friend. Why not come in and discuss this...on a more person level?"

he said, sounding menacing and crude with a deep tone.

How did Do'mez know what Va'z was going to ask about?

LOCATION: REVERENCE, _NO MAN'S LAND_ HILLTOP

TIME: 4225

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Kai lay down low as the gunshots pierced the fragile, sharp rocks. He raised his hand, which held his Magnum, and fired back. He felt his hand sustain a shot. First, he loses his right arm, and now a shot in the hand. He felt his hand drop his Magnum and he quickly covered his hand in cloth, stopping the bleeding and relieving agony. After the pain subsided, he put his Magnum away and then grabbed his radio, "This is Kai Parker, requesting backup! I've been injured and I'm pinned down! I need backup, I repeat, I need backup!" he said, panicking.

More shots pierced the rocks, Kai tucked and rolled to the right side of the small cave. Kai grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin with his teeth, and threw it. He heard people shout, "Grenade!" as the explosion occurred. He looked up in the afternoon sky of Reverence, and saw Falcons clear the clouds. He saw Gabriel hanging on the side of the Falcon, and shout, "It's the rebel forces, you government brown nosers!" It made him break a smile. The Falcon's all unloaded gunfire upon the "government brown nosers" and he saw the army take cover behind a pile of tall, sturdy rocks. Five men stood up and fired SPNKr rockets at the Falcons. A few blew up, but the other trained pilots actually shot the rockets, exploding them in their tracks.

Kai saw the burning debris falling, he climbed over the rocks and slid down the wall. He jumped near the apex of his sped and tackled a soldier, he then got out his knife and stabbed the soldier in the forehead.

He pulled his Magnum back out and shot a few bullets at another. The Falcons fired a volley of rockets at a rock wall and blew the thing to smithereens, a few soldiers fled from the scene and ran off, the Falcon shot at the stragglers. Kai walked to one of the smoking pile of rocks, and a soldier lashed out at him. She nicked Kai with his blade, it cut Kai's sleeve open and drew blood, Kai stabbed back and cut the visor open and saw her eyes. "It's...It's you." Kai said, and staggered back.

Why was she here? After all these years it was her again. Kai was overwhelmed with emotions, happiness, sadness, confusion, and...despair.

"I'm sorry, Kai. I-I didn't want it to come to this." she spoke, sounding sincere. Kai was utterly speechless. It was _her_. It was HER! His old partner in the UNSC. It was his girlfriend. The girl who was deemed lost eight years ago. It was Lucy.

LOCATION: SECURE CITY, 23 HOURS AFTER COVENANT PATROL

TIME: 3412

DATE: SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2544

The city was dead quiet. Not a sound was heard, not a shot was fired. It was just Kai and Lucy taking a patrol of New Coronoca. Kai and Lucy's CO told them that a Covenant patrol was recently spotted in the city. Kai grabbed Lucy's shoulder, "Lucy, don't worry. I'm here to protect you." She felt warm after Kai's promise, before they landed, she felt scared and anxious. But she knew Kai loved her, and she loved him, so the two would do their best to watch each other.

Lucy looked around the alleys of the city, nothing in sight. She then heard the "tongue" of an Elite and its Grunt squad. She ducked behind the building, nothing came out of the alley. Then, she felt Kai tackle her. "Get down!" a volley of plasma flew over her head. Kai...Kai saved her.

Being an ODST, a few plasma shots to the head would've killed her. Lucy pulled out her Magnum and fired at the direction the plasma came from. She saw a few Jackals fall, Kai got up and shot the Grunt squad, which had gotten out of the alleyway. Lucy saw the Elite walked out, his energy sword was bright, and he drug it across the ground, sparking the street and revealing the Elite's scarred face. Kai glanced at Lucy, and shouted to her, "Run, Lucy! Get out of here!" she got up on her feet and ran.

She looked behind her to see a spark of light, and Kai blocking the energy sword with a piece of debris from the Covenant raids. She regretted running, but it's what Kai told her to do. She sat down on the stone wall, it was like the "bad side" of a city, graffiti, burning cars, all that would make a visitor uncomfortable.

She fell asleep at 3417, and when she woke up it was 3452. She woke up because of Kai, she turned on her helmet lights, to see Kai's face. He didn't have his helmet on. His face was bloodied and he bore a charred scar on his forehead. That must've been from the energy sword, "Kai. What happened?" she spoke, her voice filled with concern.

Kai looked down, thinking of something to say, "...Let's just say...That I bit more than I could chew." She grabbed him by his neck, and held him tightly. It was a hug. She cried in his arms, she felt foolish for taking his word and leaving him behind. She spoke, her voice broken with tears, "I'm sorry, Kai. I should've been there for you. I'm-I'm-I'm...I'm never leaving you again!" Kai held her tightly, as well. "Lucy, I'll never ask of you to leave if you don't want to. I'll let you choose, whether you want to leave, or stay with me."

She nodded, and took off her helmet, and wiped her tears. She got up, "I'm ready...I'm ready to go." Kai looked around, "You sure?" he said, smiling. She nodded, again.

Kai held out his hand, "Alright, hon. Let's get going." she held his hand and they walked off together. Lucy and Kai stayed very close together, Kai stopped Lucy while they were both walking. "Woah woah woah, what was that?" she couldn't hear a thing. She listened very carefully.

Then she heard it, it was a low, deep hum of some kind. It sounded vaguely familiar. She thought very deeply about what it could be:

 _Is it what I think it is? Is it a-No no no. It can't be, these_ _parts of the city are to thick for those. But...I can't help but shake the feeling that it's a-_

A Phantom. She ran in the alleyway she found not an hour ago. She called for Kai's name, he turned and looked up, he saw it and ran towards her. He waited for the Phantom to clear, and he walked out. He grabbed Lucy's hand and slowly walked her out with him. She felt secure with Kai's hand in her's. She walked out with confidence, she knew Kai was her guardian. She saw the Phantom hover over them, stop, slowly loomed over, and then went ahead. She sighed with relief. Yet, she felt the thread of the unknown still had watched over them, waiting. Her fear was right. The ground rumbled, the lights of the city shook, and the buildings crumbled. A cruiser had jumped from slipspace, and the ground rumbled beneath Lucy. The crack of the street had opened, and Lucy fell into it. Kai dove and caught Lucy's hand, "Lucy! Hold onto me!" She started to breathe fast, and heavily, her visor clouded with fog from her breath. "K-Kai! Help!" she said, her voice losing control.

Kai held tightly onto her hand, he felt himself losing grip, but he still held on. Kai shouted, "Lucy! Hold on, t-tighter!" she nodded and tightened her grip. Then, the aftershock of the cruiser entering the city knocked Kai's focus off. He let go. He saw her fall into the darkness. The last thing Lucy heard was Kai's breaking voice, " _Lucy!_ " And she felt her eyes close. Close herself off from the terror. Close herself off...from the world.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, _NO MAN'S LAND_ GROUNDED

TIME: 4228

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Lucy still had the green eyes she had on the day he had lost her, and when he lost his grip, too. Kai grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry, Lucy. I let you down. Figuratively and literally. I'm-I'm sorry," he felt tears leak from his eyes. He looked at her eyes from her open visor, and saw that she, too, was crying, "I'll never let you go, ever." he said, promising her so. Lucy was in a brawl of emotions. Kai was still angry at himself for letting go of Lucy. He never forgave himself after that, and never fully recovered from that day, as well. It all had bundled him up in emotions, but he never once showed sorrow in front of his friends.

Lucy hugged Kai and cried. Just like she did eight years ago. "Kai, I never forgot about you. I'll never forget about you." Kai didn't care about the civil war, when he had finally found Lucy after eight years. "Lucy...H-How did you get here?" she wiped her eyes. "After the UNSC heard of the cruiser in Coronoca, they began to search the rubble and found me buried in the cracks of the road. They got me out, and told me a few months later that I would be shipped to Reverence due to my record, and that I would fight the civil war. Now...I got a question for _you_." she said, looking concerned. Then, she pointed at his missing right arm, "O-Oh. Well, I sort of was held captive by Brutes." Lucy looked at him, not believing that that was all.

Then Kai, broken, continued, "I turned myself in for the life of a friend, to have them spare her. And the price of that was the dismemberment of my right arm. It was not a pretty sight to see." Lucy grabbed onto him, "Kai, you-you did it again, you idiot. You sacrificed yourself for someone you care about." she hugged him, again.

Kai hugged her, too. "Let's get you out of here, kiddo." he walked her casually through the explosions and gunfire. They were catching up in the middle of a fight. But they did not care. They had found each other again, after eight years.

Kai walked her back to the small camp where he had awoken from. He laid her down, and he laid down next to her. Lucy had started to drift off, until she saw a Brute walk in. "Ah! K-Kai! A Brute!" Kai looked up, and laughed, "Ivona! Had a nice sleep?" Ivona snarled, "I had a nice rest. But not one as forceful like that will ever come over me again in this world." Lucy still looked worried, "Don't worry, this Brute is why I'm here today. Although, he was almost the cause of death." Lucy slowly lied back down, and comforted herself, still keeping aware of the Brute.

But, she was happy she got to see Kai again. She still loved him. And she knew he still loved her. Although their meeting started off bad, it was still a joyous time for Lucy. She decided that she would give up fighting, and maybe lie down low with Kai. Lucy drifted off into a deep sleep, only dreaming of her future with Kai. And the life they would hopefully live together.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate _Further Unto Glory_

TIME: 1247

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Nathan had a nice, long discussion with Kai. He talked about their childhood together, and the battles they had fought together. He talked of the hardships, the sacrifices, and the losses they shared. He still couldn't believe Kai was dead. After their years of friendship, he abruptly disconnected from their world. Nathan couldn't help but cry during their discussion.

He cried for a long time, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, give or take. He sat on his bed, until he heard the door open, it was Alice. "Nate, you doing OK?" Nathan nodded, a lie. He felt awful. His last few sentences were: "Kai, I know we've been friends for a long time. We've had our fair share of arguments and hardships, but...but...I think it's time I let you go, let you run free. I...I...I'll leave you alone." It broke him down to say it.

Nathan put his hands on his face, and his elbows on his knees. Alice put her arm around Nathan, to comfort him. Nathan felt like he betrayed Kai for letting him go. He looked up, the room that was generously offered to them had a skylight. What he saw had awestruck him.

It was...A Halo.

The sky looked as if it were daybreak, the Halo was bright, and surrounded by clouds. He stared at it, was this where the _Further Unto Glory_ headed? To a Halo? If so, why? Was there something on the Halo? Before these questions could be answered, the ship shuddered, it shook, and an explosion was heard.

It was the Covenant. They were boarding _Further Unto Glory_ …

Nathan immediately sat up, "Alice, get your gun. We've got company."

MEANWHILE…

The alarms sounded, the UNSC Marines ran through the hallways with their MA5B Assault rifles. One of the Marines ran into a hallway and was grabbed by the throat, and stabbed in the stomach by an energy sword. Stealth Elites. Nathan crouched, and unloaded his SMG at the Elite. The Elite's shields flared, and the blue energy around it sparked, that's when Alice ran up and delivered a bullet into the Elite's head, it sprawled to the floor. "Alice, I need you to lead a small team of Marines into the hallway over there," he pointed to the nearest hallway, it had a large, red sign that read "ARMORY", he knew it could help them.

Alice nodded, "C'mon, Marines! On me!" she paced herself into the Armory, and a team of Marines followed. Daniel ran out of the cafeteria. He pulled out his SMG and looked around, "You guys crash the party while I was still eating? Haha." Nathan cracked a smile, "Alright, Daniel. You want to prove your fighting capabilities to me? Then follow me…Where's Megan?" Daniel looked around, "Oh, right! She went with Alice! Sooo, it's just you and me I guess, boss." He was right. Nathan had seen how much Daniel grew over the years in his squad, "Alright, Daniel. I trust you with me." Nathan said, with confidence.

Daniel lifted his fist in the air, "All right!" Nathan then waved his hand, "Alright, then follow me, through that hall." It was the hall the Captain led them through to their room. Nathan heard the chatter of a squad of Elites, "Daniel, toss a frag." Daniel nodded, and threw a grenade, it blew up and the cries of Grunts were heard. Nathan rolled and mowed down the Elite, whose shields were lost in the explosion. Nathan charged in with his Magnum and shot the two Elites in the head, and Daniel followed.

Silence loomed through the halls, it was odd. "Why is it so quiet? Isn't this a mass boarding?" Daniel asked, readying his SMG. "Either there is not too much Covenant, or not too much men to hold of the Covenant." Nathan responded.

They roamed the halls, Daniel feeling queasy to this course of action, and Nathan ready to fight whatever appears. They walked safely along to the Bridge. "Where is everyone? Why isn't everyone fighting? Why isn't there anyone _to_ fight?" Daniel asked, seeing Nathan looking at the logs of the ship, "...I don't know...But, this situation brings back some-unwanted memories. Memories that should have died in that fire long, long ago…" Nathan started to space off.

LOCATION: EARTH, BEYOND EXOSPHERE

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: MAY 9TH, 2542

Fire burned within their ship, it's eerie embers shooting in the air, and the smoke caught in people's lungs. Nathan was afraid, he saw his crew members shouting and screaming in fear. His mind began to shuffle through questions. And he kept coming back to one question: How was I promoted to captain of this ship? It was a question he felt uncomfortable to answer, perhaps it was his sense of self-pride, perhaps it was the fact that he always hated asking or answering questions that had to do with his life. But, the safety of his men was his sole responsibility, and he would do his job without being afraid. But how? He heard all the shouts from his men: "Nathan, help!" "Nathan, what do we do?!" "Captain, I'm scared!"

All of the shouts coming from his men made him even more scared, this was his first time actually fearing the safety of his men, they were never in serious danger. As he was deep in thought, an engine blew up over him, and sent flames down onto Nathan. He felt pain. So, so much pain. He got up, and ran, feeling the flames eating at him. He danced around, trying to put out the flames. He thought it was all over from here. But, a crew member extinguished him. He looked up, shaking, burnt, and saw Lt. Free, standing over him, and behind him was the fire extinguisher container, glass smashed. He finally made up his mind. He was going to save his men. But...That was until everything came crashing down.

The ship was crashing, it was falling towards Earth. Nathan fell as the ship went from a horizontal trek, to a vertical one. He hit the back of his head on the table in the center of the Bridge. And when he came to, he was in an escape pod. Safe as sound. He got up, bones aching and popping. He opened the hatch, and exited. The stench of smoke filled the air, and he saw the bodies of his crew. He was horrified, at first he was tear-drawn, but then, he realized the reason he was in tears was the fact that he was about to throw up. He couldn't remember what had caused this. Then, he felt something hot run down his leg. He lifted up his pant leg, blood. He felt his forehead, blood. The back of his head, blood. He was mortified, he could not save his men. He saw the monitor in the Bridge, it was fine for some reason. But on the screen, it read: LOG SAVED. He went up to the monitor, and opened up his logs, he tapped on the most recent one.

He heard it all: _Hey cap, if you hear this: You're alive! We knew you'd come through. We know you tried to save us, but we didn't want you to. We wanted to keep you safe instead. Now, we know you may not like this decision, but believe me you, I wanted this to happen the moment the ship was under fire. Because, you see, the times when people are scared are the times when the person needs to do something. We can't let fear control us, make us NOT do something we should do. OK, I need to hurry this up, we're about to crash, hahaha...Ahem, listen, cap, you're the best captain I could've asked for. I say that for all of us here. This is Lieutenant Miller, sign-_

That was it. The last words of his crew, he dug through his cabinets in the desk, and found a flash drive. He entered it into the monitor, and copied the logs onto the flash drive, and carried it wherever he went. He couldn't help but bear a few tears, he had just let down his crew, although they never said that, he felt as if he did. As he looked up, the entire roof was torn from the ship, the sky burned with a cyan tint to it, and which revealed a Halo. It was a graceful moment. A graceful moment to be alive, that is.

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate _Further Unto Glory_

TIME: 1259

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

Nathan had wandered off in thought, worrying Daniel. Daniel finally snapped his finger, "Hey, Nate!" Nathan shook his head, and then looked at Daniel, "Sorry, Dan. Just got lost in thought, there." Daniel didn't seem to be satisfied with the answer.

Nathan noticed the Bridge had a window, and he saw that outside was the wondrous loop again: the Halo.


	12. Chapter 9: A Change of Heart

It was so beautiful, yet masked with a murderous intent. Daniel saw it, too, "A Halo, huh?...Hey, what's with the waterworks, Nathan?" Daniel noted. Nathan shut his eyes tightly, then opened them again, "I-It's nothing, come on, Daniel." Daniel refused to go, he knew something was up with Nathan…

MEANWHILE…

Alice and Megan led a team of marines down a hallway, eaten with darkness and red lights signaling an unsafe area. Alice walked slowly down the hall, having her SMG prepped, before she knew it: an Elite grabbed her by the throat. The Elite lifted her up, and she stabbed it in the side of its mandible. The Elite grabbed the punctured mandible and roared furiously. Alice, still in shock, crawled backwards in a rush, Megan opened fire on the Elite, which in return ran, but dropped its plasma rifle.

Megan walked over to examine it. Its shape was odd, very bulbous and spiked. It looked almost like a Brute Spiker...In fact, it looked as if it _was_ designed based off of that. Megan brought it back to Alice, "Hey, Al. Look at this," she held out the rifle, "it looks as if the Covenant modified it based off the Spiker." Alice held it, "Well, it's very warm...But...What is this?..." She pushed a button, and out dropped a magazine. "It...runs on ammo? And look, a third of it has been used." Alice remarked. "Maybe the sound is like the Spiker's, too. Those things aren't too loud when fired." Megan said, responding to Alice's inference. Alice started to try and figure out to reload the weapon, and when she did, she shot it at a wall. It fired spikes, but it was awfully loud. "...Megan, do you know what this means?" Alice looked at Megan.

"...What's it mean?"

"It means, if _that_ Elite fired _this_ weapon, we would've heard it."

"But this ship is huge, I know gunfire is loud, but not _that_ loud."

"That wouldn't make sense, though."

"Why?"

"Why would the Covenant drop off their army all the way to the back of the ship, then? Wouldn't they try to, you know, land _closer_ to the area where potential threats are?"

"...Then that means, that means this weapon was fired somewhere else…"

"Then there is something bigger going on then we imagined. And I think we're caught in the middle of it…"

It all fell into place there. Alice looked around, gathering her thoughts, "...All over the news were reports and pictures of a planet called...Reverence, I think. It has been getting supplies from all over the galaxy. Mainly ones the UNSC discovered freshly, what if the Covenant have inhabited those worlds, or something bigger is off in that galaxy," she walked over to the nearest wall, the nearest one had a window. Alice looked out of it, and saw a dusty planet beneath the ship, "...and I think we're just above that said planet."

LOCATION: REVERENCE, CAVERN HIDEOUT

TIME: 2994

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Kai woke to Lucy lying next to him. It was good to see her again. Ivona stepped up, "Hm, you humans and your sleep...I hope you are well rested, though." Kai was sweating from the heat of the blanket he woke up under just nine days earlier. Not to long after Kai woke, Lucy came to.

She rubbed her eyes, "Morning, Kai." He smiled, "Morning, Lucy." He heard footsteps outside. Gabriel and his men walked in. One of the privates looked at Kai, "Oh look at that, Kai got himself a girl!" He laughed. "Gee, what's her name, Kai?" Another private said.

Kai smiled, "Nah, this is the same old girl, Lucy."

"Oooh, Lucy? That's a mighty pretty name, there."

Lucy felt mortified. Having just woke up and been surrounded by men she didn't know wasn't exactly a good wake up call. Then, Gabriel stepped up. "Enough with the joking, I need to have a chat with _Mr. Parker_. And that means all of you need to leave," he looked at Lucy, "Including you, ma'am." She swallowed, nervous for Kai, and got up and left, along with the others. As soon as the "room"cleared, Kai's smile turned to a grave expression.

"How do you know my last name?"

"Your brother's all over the news."

 _Lance_. Kai thought. He still remembered the conversation with Lance on the phone provided to him by one of Gabe's privates. But...How did he know that Lance was his brother?

"I need you on the battlefield, Kai." Gabe said, sitting on a rock.

"B-But, I just met with Lucy again! It's been eight years!" Kai retorted.

"That's not an excuse!" Gabe snapped back. The cave was silent, only hearing drops of water from stalactites onto the rock ground. Gabe sighed, then continued, "...I know what it's like to lose people I love, too, Kai. But you can't use that as an excuse, we've got a war to fight, and you promised you'd help."

Kai was at a loss for words, Gabe was wrong, but he knew he had to fight. Kai got up, "Fine, I'll help you win this war. Just leave Lucy out of this."

LOCATION: UNSC Frigate _Further Unto Glory_

TIME: 1272

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

The light alarms in the room were still blaring. Alice had recently just made a deduction, and Nathan was hearing it, "..We need to get to Reverence to confirm this. Is the Captain still aboard?" He asked. Daniel stood up from his corner, "Yeah, I'll go ask. Hopefully we'll find the source of this 'war', end it, and go home." He left the room.

MEANWHILE

Daniel thought it weird, one second ago everything was going to hell, now everything is silent. What happened to everyone? He walked the lonely hallways until he found the Captain's Quarters. He pressed the button, and the door slid open. He walked inside, the Captain was calmly drinking some wine. It bothered him.

"Ah, Daniel Harper. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up." The Captain said, softly putting his wine glass on the table. Daniel then wondered how he knew his last name.

"Wait, you knew I was going to show up?"

"Yes, it was blatantly obvious."

"But...How?"

"How not? I've studied your characteristics for some time, I know that out of all of your squad, you seem to be the most energetic. Thus making you lead here to question me. Is that not all? Or shall I go on?"

"That's...Quite enough, sir. I just came to ask you of something."

"Whatever is it?"

"Would you mind if we took some escape pods to Reverence, I think that's what it's called anyway."

The Captain looked uneasy. He picked up his wine glass again, and slammed it down, shattering the glass. Daniel jumped a bit. "Mmm, now _that_ was the last dose of wine I needed to get, er, drunk."

 _Not good, not good!_ Daniel thought to himself. The Captain picked up his Magnum and loaded it. He aimed it at Daniel and began to fire. Daniel rolled, the shot nicked his foot. He ran out of the room, and the Captain chased him, "Because of you, my friends are all dead!" The Captain's speech was slurred a bit, but Daniel knew what he was saying. The Captain shot again, barely missing Daniel. Daniel ran through the entire ship, trying to reach the Bridge again, "How did _I_ kill your friends?! You-You drunk!" Daniel began to climb over the engine of the ship, the Captain grabbed Daniel's foot, "The Covenant knew you were here! And to think I gave you all the honor of my hospitality!" Daniel kicked the Captain in the face, knocking him out cold. The Captain lie there, nose and mouth bleeding. Daniel ran to the Bridge, the door slid open as it detected his motion. "Guys! Guys! Get to the escape pods, now!" Everyone seemed to jump at this sudden outburst. "Daniel, what happened?!" Nathan shouted.

"It's the Captain!"

"What about him?!"

"He wants us dead!"

"Wh-Why?!"

"The-The Covenant knew we were here! They boarded the ship! They-they, they killed all of the Captain's friends."

Daniel seemed to calm down, as did Nathan. "But, now's not the time to sit here and think. Let's get to the escape pods."

LATER

It took a while to navigate through the ship, but Nathan and his team eventually found their way to the escape pods. "Everyone secured?" Nathan asked, receiving nods from everyone. "Alright then, punch it, Alice!"

"Aye aye!"


	13. Chapter 10: Reunion

The escape pod thrusted out of the chamber that held it. They were heading off of _Further Unto Glory_. And to the world of Reverence.

A FEW HOURS LATER

An aching head. A mouth full of blood. It was a standard thing for an ODST to feel that after dropping, but they got used to it. The pod landed in a lake, not the most ideal location for it, but Nathan and his squad managed to get out of it.

As they crawled out of the lake, the desert part of Reverence showed itself. Massive canyons, screeching birds, and caves. Lots of caves. Nathan climbed up the hill that bordered the lake, and upped himself onto the surface. The surface was very smooth and sandy, and as soon as Nathan's team got out of the lake, they headed out.

LOCATION: ?

TIME: ?

DATE: ?

 _Cold. Unforgiving. Dark. Gloomy._ The thoughts ran through his head. The Pelican had reached its apex and was approaching the docking station of the frigate known as _Daychaser_. He sat in the back of the Pelican, it was dark. _Very dark_. He shut his eyes as the Pelican's door slowly leaned down, revealing a lot of light, blinding him.

"Welcome, Pelican crew. I assume you are the one who were sent to deliver _him_?"

"Yessir!" The pilot did a quick salute.

"At ease." The man walked in the Pelican, he could hear his loud steps edging nearer and nearer.

"Why hello, Lance." He said. Lance looked away, but the man gripped his head and forced him to look at him. Lance could see the hatred in his green eyes.

Lance sat for a moment, still, not a single muscle tensed. He did this to deceive the man into trusting him. Then, he delivered a quick, brutal punch to the man's stomach. Lance then darted out, he heard a few shouts coming for the Pelican, but did not stop when he saw the words "EMERGENCY PODS" above one of the doors. Before he could get any further, however, he felt a powerful shock in his back, he collapsed to the ground.

 _A taser…_ Lance thought. He wasn't a stranger to them. In fact, he marked himself, in Roman numerals, how many times he had been tased. This would make that tase the ninety-seventh tase. However, ninety-eight, nine-nine, and 100 came sooner than Lance thought. As soon as those happened, Lance drooled onto the ground, feeling uneasy. His chest hurt severely. He then felt the boot of an officer lay on top of his head.

"Not today, Lance." the officer spoke.

"Ah, Officer Castle. How nice it is to see you…How's your daughter, oh wait...You don't have one anymore, do you?" Lance said, laughing.

"...Not after you murdered her in cold-blood! You sick man, you should be lucky you ain't dead. Otherwise I'd have killed ya." The Officer pressured his foot on Lance's head even more, and Lance could hear the spite in his voice.

"Haha, if only you could kill me. And besides, I told you _I_ didn't kill your daughter. It was Kai!" Lance spat out. He didn't feel remorse in indicting Kai.

"There's no chance in hell that my daugher, _MY_ Lucy, could've killed by your brother! He loved her so! And _YOU_ ended that!" Officer Castle flicked the taser around his finger and put it into his holster.

And Lance was dragged away to his cell.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, CANYON

TIME: 3101

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Kai agreed to fight and help Gabe, but he did not enjoy agreeing to it. He wanted to be with Lucy again, the girl he thought he lost so long ago. But when Kai walked outside the cavern, his mind altered. He saw a hideout full of groups of soldiers tucked in corners, bleeding and shaking. He saw warthogs pass through, some smoking, some badly damaged, and some blazing with fire.

He looked up, Falcons roamed over the canyon, burning, shrapnel falling below. And some lowered wounded to the ground to be taken away for care.

"You see my point, Kai? All of this. I hate it. But we need to do it. We need our lives back." Gabe said, this made Kai agree. As much as he wanted to spend time with Lucy, he had to fight to bring Reverence back. But whilst in thought, he saw a blazing streak of fire soar through the air and into a lake not to far from his location.

"What was that?" he said, and made a break for the lake. He climbed up a hill to gain a vantage point. He then saw a fraction of the lake, shockwaves advancing out from the impact of whatever hit the lake there. And there he saw it, four strangers that...looked like him.

Then it hit him. It was them! Megan, Daniel, Alice, and Nathan! They were here! Maybe life wasn't as bad as Kai had initially thought.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, LAKESIDE

TIME: 3104

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Nathan wiped off the water on his visor, and continued to lead his team. "Keep your eyes and ears open, OK?" Nathan told the team, receiving nods in return. He then looked up, and a saw a figure perched up on a rock. Then quickly disappear. He knew they weren't alone. He felt his hand reach for his Magnum, but decided against it.

As he walked through the cave, he felt anxious, even he was unsure of why he felt the angst. The sky looked beautiful on Reverence, and the sound of footsteps on the sand soothed Nathan.

As they reached the apex of the cave, the sun shone in Nathan's eyes, blinding him. It reminded him of the times when his friends and him would go down to the beach so many years ago. Alice pointed, "Hey, what's that over there?" Nathan looked to where Alice was pointing, and he saw a small camp.

"...Let's go check it out." Nathan said, and led the team. That terrain that led up to the camp was rough and rocky. Soon, Nathan heard a voice, "Freeze! Stay right where you are!" His team stopped, and the soldier turned to his squad and motioned them over to Nathan.

"We're going to give you two options," the leader began, "A: give up and give us everything you have, or B: die out here by my hand."

Before Nathan could respond to his offer, they all heard a shout, "Wait!" And Nathan recognized the voice.

 _Kai?_ Nathan thought.

LOCATION: DO'MEZ 'MORAMEE'S SHELTER/HOME

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Va'z entered Do'mez's shelter, candles lit and smoking, wax dripping on plates. A small fountain in the corner of the room running with water. The whole house smelled like smoke.

"Come, sit. And let us talk." Do'mez said, sitting on a pillow. He began to meditate. Va'z saw a picture mounted on the wall, it was a painting of sorts.

"I sense you have a question stowed inside, do you not?" Do'mez said, eyes still closed.

"Yes, I do. About that day, when we all trained in the arena." Va'z spoke.

"Hush! I hear something." Do'mez said, he raised his hands in the air, lifted his head, and clapped once. It echoed. Va'z was deeply confused.

"The gods have told me your question is about this?..." he put his two fingers on his left eyes and opened his eyelids, revealing a twitchy and fluctuating eye. Va'z jumped a bit, which received a laugh from Do'mez. He closed his eyelid, and meditated again.

"Y-Yes, that was the question…"

"Hehe! Well, you like to pry into personal matters, don't you?!" Do'mez said, the sunlight peaking in his window over him.

"No, I'm just concerned-"

"Oh, are you now? Leave! We shall discuss of this no more!"

Do'mez got up, and shunted Va'z out. Once Va'z was out, he slammed his door shut, cracking the stone door a bit. It was weird how Do'mez was so protective of his eye, almost as if it was his own kin. Deeply confused, Va'z walked back to his abode.

But what he saw, scarred him for the rest of his life.

His town, abandoned. Smoke emitting from the houses. Dead lay everywhere. And his house, destroyed. He clenched his fist in anger.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, CANYON

TIME: 3116

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Nathan looked up, he saw an ODST jump from the top of the cave and land, somersaulting as he landed on the ground. His right arm was missing, and he had the familiar red marks that he knew Kai wore.

"K-Kai...Is...Is that...you?" Nathan reached out to Kai.

"Nathan," Kai grabbed his arm and put it down, "it's me, Kai." he said back.

Nathan fell into an ecstasy, he had so many questions for Kai. But so little time, he knew he couldn't ask questions with that soldier around here.

"Kai, what's going on? Why do you know these guys?" the soldier said, still holding his weapon at Nathan.

"These are my friends, Gabe. And I think they all thought I was dead." Kai responded.

"Yeah! Why did it say you were dead on my Fireteam list?" Nathan said, eagerly.

"I guess I was shot enough to make it think I was dead. Technology is not always your friend, Nathan." Kai said, reassuringly.


	14. Chapter 11: Up To Speed

Ivona walked around the corner, dragging a dead Jackal.

"Brute! Take him down!" Nathan exclaimed.

"No! Don't shoot!" Kai said, grabbing Nathan's gun and forcing it down.

"Ahaha! Humans and their lack of sympathy towards other species. You certainly _are_ odd!" Ivona said, laughing.

"Ivona...Did you just walk out of here...And kill _that_? Without _any_ of us knowing?" Kai said, gesturing towards the dead Jackal.

"Why, yes. I hungered and went hunting for food, and this vermin here pulled a beam rifle on me. I guess I'm on the Prophet's wanted list, now. How amusing." Ivona said, breaking the neck of the dead Jackal.

"But...that means that the Prophet knows where we are now! No other Jackal would pull a weapon on a Brute...Everyone! Get to cover!" Kai said, running back behind a rock.

The ground rumbled, the sky shook, and a portal opened, revealing a large ship. A ship Ivona and Kai immediately recognized by its unique appearance.

It was the _Enforced Glory_.

LOCATION: COVENANT SHIP _ENFORCED GLORY_ (COCKPIT)

TIME: UNKNOWN

DATE: JULY 22ND, 2552

The Prophet sat in his chair. His long fingers stroking his chin, and the other hand shaped as a fist laying on the arm. He said, in a slow and deep tone, "The nerve of Ivona, betraying his title and comrades. He shall be cut down, for the grace of the prophecy!" The room filled with a loud shout from the Elites piloting the ship.

One of the Elites motioned towards the Prophet, "Prophet of Remorse, I bring news!"

"What is it, Shipmaster Kal'hul? It shall be good news, yes?" the Prophet said back, the hatred in his voice becoming more blatant.

"We have found out where Ivona resides!" the Shipmaster said, "He lies in a planet not too distant from our location."

"Very good news, Kal'hul! Show me!" The Prophet said, anger turning into glee.

"I shall pull up the slipspace coordinates. From there, we shall jump to his location!" Kal'hul said, the large monitor in the center of the room showing the coordinates.

"Ah, Il'van! Get the coordinates and jump to Ivona! For his heresy, and for the journey, we shall have his head!"

"Certainly, Holy One!" Il'van said, and scrambled to his station. He punched in the coordinates, and the ship flooded with light. The ship jumped to Reverence, hovering over the landscape. The crew saw the beautiful waterfalls, rushing with steam. And there sat Ivona under it.

"There he is! The traitorous scum! Aim the ship's weapons at him and fire!" The Prophet of Remorse exclaimed.

LOCATION: REVERENCE, CANYON

TIME: 3119

DATE: JULY 23RD, 2552

Ivona saw the ship jump from slipspace, he got up and ran behind a rock, realizing they were here for him. He ran towards Kai and the others. "Allies, I came here to warn you of a ship's presence! It has jumped from space! I believe other fleets may arrive as well!" Kai looked up, and sure enough, a fleet arrived.

"Gabe, get your men! This is going to be one hell of a fight!" Kai shouted, Gabe turned towards Kai and nodded. He ran back to gather his men.

Kai stopped Gabe for a moment, "Gabe! Do you...have a ship or at least a Falcon I could borrow?"

"Yeah...Wait, why?" Gabe said, curiosity creeping into his tone.

"Because," Kai looked back at the ship, "I have some unfinished business with this ship of ours…" And from that sentence, Gabe knew what Kai was thinking.

LATER...

Kai flew the Falcon towards the large cruiser. His friends in the back.

"Um, Kai? Are you sure you want to fly this thing with...Um, you know...One arm?" Nathan said, sounding concerned.

"Haha! Don't you worry, Nate. I've been trained to fly this!" Kai said, reassuringly.

They began to approach the ship, and fear began to strike the others. Kai, however, felt determination.

"I had Gabe install a small something for this Falcon," Kai said, "Initiating cloaking device!" Kai flicked a small switch in the Falcon. A sound rung out through the Falcon, and then like a puff of smoke, they were gone. And Kai and the team made it to the cruiser.

They landed on top of the cruiser, it moved slow enough to not knock them off, thankfully. As they landed, Kai took welding tool that Gabe gave to him to cut into the ship and enter from above. Kai jumped down and rolled onto one of the platforms.

He got up, and signaled the others to come down and follow him. The ship was large on the interior, and full of lights that lit up the purple hallways. Kai hid behind the door, as it hummed and opened, a Jackal walked out. Kai grabbed it by the hair, pulled it down and stabbed it in the neck. The ship was enormous. As they walked outside of the room, the vast land showed. The birds screeched, flying over the mountains. Kai looked down, his stomach dropped.

It was beautiful, though. They heard the hum of a door, and looked to their left, a squad of Covenant found them. Two Brute Spiker shots whizzed past Kai's head, engraving themselves in the wall. Alice fired her Magnum at the two Jackal guards, one bullet hit its wrist, making the shield holster shock and short out. It ran off before another bullet hit its head. Nathan went around, he took the Jackal's head, whipped its body around, stabbed it, and took its shield. The Brute turned around to see Nathan pull up his shield, it dropped its Spiker and grabbed its Brute Shot off its back and clashed with Nathan. The others fired at the Brute, before another squad grabbed their attention. Nathan bashed his shield in the Brute's head, knocking it off balance, Nathan took his Magnum and blasted a few shots in its head. The helmet took most of the damage, slightly slipping off. Nathan punched the Brute, knocking its helmet off.

The Brute feel back, mouth bleeding, Nathan took his shield and bashed it in the face more. He stopped after a croak creeped through the Brute's mouth, dead. Nathan ran back to his team, blocking bullets along the way. Alice took a shot in the ankle. She bent down, grasping her ankle, it looked burnt.

"Gah! I-It burns!" She yelled. Then, Kai saw an Elite uncloak in the back of the army. He trained his gun on it, before it took out its sword, deflected Kai's bullet, and hit a Jackal in the head that was behind Kai. Kai turned around, the Jackal fell to the floor, dead. He turned towards the Elite, it took its sword, and stabbed through the army. It took a Jackal, stabbed it in the back, and threw it off the ship. It walked over to Kai, silence filling the air, the others staring in awe as the Elite walked. "Kai Parker? I presume you are the one I identify correctly?" it said, menacingly.

"...Yes. I am Kai Parker. Who...Are you?" Kai responded, his finger fiddling with his holstered gun.

"I come not to kill. But to deliver a message. A message from your brother." The Elite said.

"Wait, I know you. You're...You're that Elite that I was captured by! I was in your cell, you had to guard me...All those years ago. A-Anyway, what's the message?" Kai said, hurriedly.

"It is in physical form." The Elite said, handing a letter.

Kai took it. Opened it.

And read.

LOCATION: ?

TIME: ?

DATE: ?

It was a cold cell, for sure. Lance could see his breath, misty and thick. And there was a small window above his bed, the Sun shone bright through the glass, blinding Lance. He heard the footsteps of one of the guards, getting closer and closer by the second.

"Enjoying your new cell, Parker?"

"It's not as adequate, but it suits me. You know me too well, Castle."

"You know why you're in there, you killed so many people! You killed my daughter! Have you no shame?!"

"Shame is something I've learned to forget, Castle," he went over to the cupboard, an ugly one at that, and reached for the alcoholic beverage in there. Provided to keep Lance sane.

"Well, you need to start feeling those emotions soon, if you don't feel 'em here, it'll kill ya." Officer Castle said, lighting a Sweet William cigar.

Lance poured the beverage in a small glass, the product was Apple Orchard, his favorite. He chugged it down, and sat down again.

"Emotions just aren't my thing, Castle. Hahaha. I figured you of all people would know that." He sat down again, glass in hand with another drink.

"Look, Parker, I want you to feel human again. To feel what you've done, so you can pay for all of it. I mean, you accused your brother of killing my daughter, and I didn't see no shame on your face!" Officer Castle shouted, his southern accent kicking in. Lance laughed at the accent.

Lance began to wave his drink around as he talked, the ice clinking on the glass, "Hahaha! I'm a broken man, Castle, there's not a bit of feeling inside me, now," he took a big swig of his beverage, "that person died a long time ago, as soon as THIS person started to twist his mind, a little!" He said, talking about himself and laughing in the process.

He put his glass down on the sink, aggressively, shattering the glass. A few pieces of glass struck Castle. Although Lance claimed to have felt no emotion, he was hiding the fact that he was feeling emotions, he felt he was taking a step closer to becoming human again. And he hated the fact that it was true.

SOME TIME LATER...

Lance shivered as the air conditioning kicked on. The icy, cold air looming across his neck and his back. He felt alone. He felt _scared_.

The cold breeze soon turned even colder, and Lance discovered he was thinking of him. Kai. He didn't show any remorse of indicting him, but inside, it killed him. He felt uneasy thinking of that.

Soon, his thinking abruptly stopped. An explosion sounded out throughout the ship, the lights went from a white sheen, to a red glow. The alarms blared, and soldiers on the ship ran through his section of the ship. One soldier blew back, in agony. Lance got off his bed and walked to the bars, it was the Covenant.

The Covenant blew into his room, Lance reached out of the cell bars and picked up a BR55 rifle from one of the dead soldiers. He killed two Jackals, and five Grunts until an Elite came in, grabbed his throat, and slammed his head against the bars.

"Fool, we came not to kill you! But to help you!" it said while Lance grabbed his forehead in agony. Lance's pain eased, then he asked, "Why…Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I know why you're in there. I know your past. And I can set you free."

"Go on." Lance responded.

The Elite opened its mandibles, and told Lance of its knowledge about him.

"I know why you've become a killer of your own species. I know that you were an abandoned son of the Parker family. How you missed your brother, and how he missed you. How you became a soldier, and was broken by war...physically and mentally. And from your experiences of war, you became a killer."

Lance felt shocked. How did the Elite know of all of this?! Lance stood up, and grabbed his bars. "How did you know all that, split-jaw?" Lance said, his voice full of spite.

"Your comrades are very informative. That'd be your brother and his allies?" The Elite cocked his head. Lance thought the Elite found some database of his records, but it was his own brother…

"How did my brother tell you all of this?" he said, feeling sorrow.

"Let's just leave it like this...My comrades know your brother. My comrades and I are allies. After that blasted prophet betrayed us...But it is not time to dwell on the past." the Elite said back.

"...Could you give a message to my brother?" Lance asked.

"But of course, I could have one of my scouts send it." he responded.

Lance went over to the table near his bed and picked up a note. He walked over to the Elite and handed it to him.

"This should make Kai understand what's going on..." Lance said, full of hope.


End file.
